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Tourists visiting New Zealand's scenic delights will soon be able to take their own virtual tour guides, giving commentary, images and songs relating to the area being visited.
In a technology first for New Zealand, the i-Box is to be launched today by Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor in Canterbury's Banks Peninsula district, and it is hoped the product will eventually be available to tourists throughout the country.
The lightweight i-Box unit plugs into a car's cigarette lighter. It tunes to a nominated FM frequency and uses Global Positioning System (GPS).
As the tourists drive into different areas they will hear stories unique to those areas, while related images will flash up on the i-Box screen.
The images in the Banks Peninsula version are accompanied by audio including sound bites, music and poetry by artists from the area.
"In a sense you are getting your own personal interpretation," said i-Box developer Malcolm Anderson.
"You can also get a preview by using a touch-screen to move through the stories, which is useful if you are in a motel."
At about $1000 a unit, it is hoped the devices could be bought by tourism bodies to loan to tourists, such as is the case in Banks Peninsula, or used for training the likes of coach drivers.
Mr Anderson said he was confident the images on the i-Box would prove even less of a distraction to drivers than the standard GPS unit.
Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Christine Prince said tourists often did not see beyond the landscapes.
The Government helped fund the i-Box, and Mr O'Connor said he was thrilled to have played a part in such an exceptional project.
