A Study on Impact of Technical Data Communication for Integrating Underwater Drones and Virtual Reality Digital Twin on 5G Network to Enhance Thailand’s Modern Tourism
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Abstract
Thailand’s marine tourism industry has transitioned into the digital age. The creation of metaverse tourism environments can further enhance tourist engagement by integrating advanced innovations such as underwater drone technology, digital twin systems, virtual reality (VR), and 5G communication networks. This paper presents the technical impact of data communication in integrating underwater drones with VR technology over a 5G network to advance modern marine tourism. The proposed communication system is designed to enable underwater drones to transmit real-time underwater video and audio to VR headsets via a 5G network. Field experiments were conducted along a 1 km to 5 km coastal route from Phra-Chom beach to Koh-Khai Island, Chumphon province. The technical performance of data communication was evaluated using key parameters, including received signal strength indicator (RSSI), channel bandwidth, path loss, data rate, and video streaming quality. The results demonstrate that real-time streaming from offshore distances of 1 km to 5 km maintained continuous Full HD video quality. The 5G network operating in the 700 MHz frequency band delivered up to 20 MHz of bandwidth. Moreover, transmission distance was found to influence both path loss significantly and received signal strength. Overall, the findings confirm that integrating underwater drones, VR technology, and 5G networks offers a novel and effective approach to developing immersive metaverse tourism experiences, with strong potential to enhance Thailand’s modern marine tourism industry.
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