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Dubai / WAM
Emirates and Google are engaging visitors at this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature with innovative on-ground experiences ranging from virtual reality 3D painting tools to an e-book reading lounge.
Emirates’ on-ground activations run until March 11 at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City.
The airline is partnering with Google to feature Google Tilt Brush, a virtual reality tool that allows users to paint, draw and even sculpt in a 3D space. This is the first time that Google Tilt Brush will be showcased in the region to the public.
Emirates and Google are also offering visitors the chance to explore popular titles in English and Arabic in a specially designed reading lounge
Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand for Emirates, said, “Technology impacts our lives in different ways, and this year we wanted to meaningfully connect with visitors in an immersive manner at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. We wanted to make sure that our activations are cutting-edge, so we partnered with Google for some of the latest virtual reality innovations to showcase the breadth of our destination network and onboard product. We also wanted to extend the successful partnership we had with Google last year by continuing to celebrate books, and have introduced a ‘reading lounge’ for visitors to relax and explore some of the world’s most popular English and Arabic titles through the Google Play Books Store.”
Tarek Abdalla, Head of Marketing for Google Middle East and North Africa, said, “Google in MENA has always been dedicated to helping promote and preserve local Arabic content on the web and empowering internet users with knowledge. Whether it was through the Google Play store or through Virtual Reality technologies like Tilt Brush and DayDream, we hope we can make Arabic literature more accessible and enjoyable than ever.”
In addition, those visiting the Emirates stand can experience Google Daydream and put on the virtual reality headset to simulate strolling through the Emirates A380 on Google Streetview. In addition to virtual reality experiences, visitors can play the Emirates ‘Destination Dash’, an augmented reality game where they can connect routes across the airline’s network.
Children will also be able to interact with Emirates ‘onboard animals’ at the festival. They will be able to have a traditional Polaroid photo taken by cabin crew with Emirates onboard animal mascots, Shane the Koala and Leila the Camel.