by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:45 PM ET, Wed July 23, 2025
Whether its robots serving drinks, chatbots helping with online reservations or facial recognition technology at the airport, high-tech is playing a greater role in travel every day.
The latest offering on the technology front can be found in O’ahu, Hawaii where a new XR or extended reality bus tour for visitors has just been unveiled amid much local fanfare.
Known as the “XploreRide” the new bus tours of O’ahu feature use of virtual reality headsets and integration of extended reality visuals that are “layered over O‘ahu’s landscapes” as guests are driven around the island.
All of this technology is combined with immersive storytelling inspired by Hawaii’s history, cultural motifs, and natural beauty, to give bus tour participants a richer and more engaging immersion in the island’s history.
“As guests’ journey through the island…panoramic windows give way to dynamic, location-synced XR animations, archival imagery, and indigenous artwork,” explains a press release about the new bus tour. “This XR technology allows for a truly immersive experience, where the rhythms of hula, chants, and traditional Hawaiian sounds breathe life into the stories.”
Yuki Toshida, manager of XploreRide, says the experience is more than a standard tour. “It’s where Hawai’i’s heritage meets modern innovation” explained Toshida.
“This is a new way to ride. A new way to see Hawaiʻi.’ With XploreRide, it’s not just about seeing the island, it’s about truly understanding it,” Toshida added.
The XploreRide tours, offered on a modern fleet of vehicles, also include storytelling audio and ambient music to further immerse guests in the experience.
ExploreRide is a new extended reality bus tour that has just been launched in Hawaii. (Photo Credit: Courtesy XploreRide)
Cultural respect, local collaboration
Launched by Hawaii HIS Corporation (“HIS Hawaii”), the XploreRide tours were designed to emphasize cultural respect, local collaboration and environmental mindfulness.
To help achieve those important goals, cultural advisors, educators, and local artists were engaged in creating the new offering, helping to ensure each tour experience is not only historically accurate but also emotionally resonant, and culturally responsive.
“The team’s goal is to amplify Indigenous voices while providing travelers with a more meaningful and responsible way to explore,” HIS Hawaii said in a press release.
Meanwhile, the shared-group bus tour format is part of XploreRide’s effort to minimize the environmental impact of the tours by reducing individual vehicle traffic and emissions across the island’s most traveled corridors.
Public bookings are now available for the tours at https://xploreride.com. To follow the journey, visit @XploreRide on Instagram and tag your content with #XploreRide.
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