Mississippi Town Uses Google Glass to Promote Tourism

In Natchez, Miss., the Convention and Visitors Bureau is looking at tourism through a different lens - literally. Hannah Durkin, the bureau's interactive marketing manager, is experimenting with Google Glass to provide users with a totally new experience of the city, the Natchez Democrat reported. 

When Durkin recieved an invitation to use the device, worn like a pair of eyeglasses and controlled via verbal commands or a touchpad, she was eager to interact with the technology -- and see how she can use its photo and video capabilities to introduce tourists to the area. 

“By going around and taking pictures of things around town, it gives visitors a chance to see Natchez through the first-person perspective”, Durkin told the news outlet. “I think it’s all about promoting Natchez in a way that it hasn’t been promoted before -- through the eyes of a visitor -- to give you a different perspective of what you would experience normally.”

Durkin is also considering hosting a variety of tours -- and even a unique hashtag -- made for those visiting the area and wearing Google Glass. 

“This is a great marketing effort that we’re excited about”, Durkin said. “Hopefully, this will help put us on the map.”

Google Glass is expected to be available to retailers sometime in 2014.