This document summarizes a study on people's expectations for using wearable computing devices like Google Glass for travel experiences. The study analyzed over 900 tweets discussing potential uses for Glass during travel. It identified five main values for travelers: 1) world exploration, 2) adventure tourism, 3) travel documentation, 4) travel reporting, and 5) positive transformation. Attributes like translation, navigation and first-person views were seen extending travelers' minds and bodies. Real-time sharing could encourage understanding and altruism. The study provides implications for destination management and marketing based on independent travel and first-person narratives.

1. Expectation of Travel Experiences
with Wearable Computing Devices
Iis P. Tussyadiah
Hospitality Business Management
College of Business
Washington State University Vancouver, USA
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2. PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY &
TOURISM EXPERIENCE
Encounters as essential parts of tourism experience
The use of technology leads to more meaningful
encounters
Technology-mediated tourism experiences
Tussyadiah & Fesenmaier, 2009; Wang, Park & Fesenmaier, 2012;
Neuhofer, Buhalis & Ladkin, 2012; etc.
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3. ENTER 2014 Research Track
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4. Image: Icon Finder; Google Glass
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5. Image: Huffington Post
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6. WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY
Major impacts on the ways people interact with
surroundings.
Challenges facing the integration of wearable tech
into society.
How wearable tech can revolutionize tourists?
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7. STUDY GOAL
Identify and explore people’s expectation of use of
wearable computing technology for travel-related
experiences.
Specifically, potential users’ ideas and imagination
of use for Glass.
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8. THE NEED FOR
AN ALTERNATIVE THEORY
Positioning of personal technology in human
experiences.
Wearable tech  potential changes in ways users
interact with technology and with others.
Theoretical explanation from HCI studies: from
mediation to embodiment.
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9. MEDIATION
[ I ] – [Glasses] – [The world]
Ihde’s (1990) non-neutrality of of technology-mediated experiences.
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10. Technology appears in between humans and the world and change experiences.
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11. EMBODIMENT
[ I – Glasses] – [The world]
Ihde (1990)
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12. Technology becomes “unnoticeable”, but an essential part of experience.
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13. Embodiment
Technology “withdraw”
?
Technology’s capability to
extend perceptual bodily
(and cognitive) capacity
Ihde (1990); Ehn & Linde (2004)
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14. PROJECT GLASS
Competition for a chance to purchase the Explorer
edition of Glass (Feb 21–27, 2013)
Ideas to use Glass submitted via Google+ and twitter
using #ifihadglass
Tweets were harvested from twitter developer API
through apps script programming in Google
Spreadsheet (Feb 23-27, 2013)
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15. DATA GATHERING
& MANAGEMENT
Manual cleanup:
duplicates, RTs,
bashtag, etc.
Open coding,
standard content
analysis
(Kassarjian, 1977)
17,373 total tweets
17,373 total tweets
10,035 unique tweets
10,035 unique tweets
930 travel-related tweets
930 travel-related tweets
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16. ABSTRACTION
Means-End Chain Analysis
Consumers relate to products through a
hierarchy (A-C-V chain):
– Product attributes (A)
– Consequences of use (C)
– Personal values (V)
Gutman (1982); Perkins & Reynolds (1988); Reynolds & Perkins (1987)
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17. ABSTRACTION
A-C-V framework was used to guide interpretation
of emerging themes (patterns, categorization) from
tweets
– A: features & functionalities
– C: travel activities
– V: motivation
*Note: missing co-occurrences prevent quantifiable links
between A-C-V chain
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18. VALUE: TRAVEL MOTIVATION
Explore
Self
Challenge
Capture
Other
Share
Transform
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19. 1. World Exploration
A shift from being a “tourist” to being an “explorer”
Emphasis on enjoyment of the “journey”
– Road trip, motorbike, walking
New ways of interacting with others &
environments
– AR, translation, navigation
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20. 2. Adventure Tourism
Revolutionary impacts
Extreme outdoor sports and challenges
– Mountain climbing, bungee jumping, skydiving
Associated with “capture” and “share”
– FPV, navigation, social publishing, real-time
connectivity
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21. 2. Travel Documentation
Convenience and unique camera feature drive an
emphasis on documenting journeys
– POV images
Storing memories – travel documentary
– “A day in the life of xxx”
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22. 4. Travel Reporting
Subthemes:
– Value from showcasing personal perspectives &
experience
– Value from enabling others to experience places
(altruism) – opening access to places
FPV, real time connectivity, social publishing, navigation.
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23. 5. Positive Transformation
Spreading influence that leads to positive societal
transformation:
– Promote mutual understanding, encourage crosscultural learning
– Travel as a way to make a difference
– FPV – “spontaneous kindness”
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24. Transform
s
Share
Explore
(V)
(C)
Culture
Tour
Capture
Challenge
Hiking
Walking
Biking
Road Trip
Skiing; Mt.
Climbing
Skydiving
(A)
Instant
Translation
Informatio
n – AR
Navigation
– Map
FPV
Capture
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Real-time
Connection
Social
Publishing
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25. TECH & EXPERIENCE
• Indication of mediation:
– “I will use Glass to…”
• Indication of embodiment:
– Perceived extension of the body and the mind
– “Seeing through Glass eyes…”
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26. CONCLUSION
Key differentiation:
– Instant information and translation  Glass as “an
extension of the mind”  confidence and convenience
– hands-free capturing of images with FPV  creating
and sharing with personalization;
– Real-time connectivity to social network  validation
and altruism
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27. IMPLICATION
Independent, well-informed tourists enjoying enroute experiences  destination management:
facets of experience
First-person visual narratives of destinations
experiences  destination marketing: microsegmentation, personas
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28. LIMITATION &
FURTHER RESEARCH
Limitation
– Competition: creative use of Glass
– Potential use: limited information
Future research
– Actual use of Glass for travel (#throughglass)
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29. THANK YOU!
Contact:
iis.tussyadiah@vancouver.wsu.edu
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