18 September, 2009

RTA 'virtual tour' of Dubai Metro

According to Gulf News the RTA has launched a virtual-reality-portal-metro-tour-website.
You can visit the portal/site directly here: http://www.rta.ae/virtualtransport

It is so virtual that you can actually choose your sex and race:
Gotta Catch 'Em All!

The simulation/game sets timed targets for how fast you can purchase a ticket:
You fail at the metro

Here's a video of some of the tour:




18 comments:

B.D. said...

This is great. Way to go RTA. It is so realistic. Go through this and you WILL know what to do at the metro.

Lirun said...

interesting that race is projected through dress code alone.. ie its cultural symptoms

Sudanese Expat said...

So.. no black people in Dubai?

Smith said...

Shocking waste of money.

Should have focused on things that were actually useful like train schedules, maps, online ticketing etc.

pusangkalye said...

AJ---hmmm---I dont get it. what's with the MRT? slow ko. hehe.

Songwriter F Space said...

Is there an online schedule?

i*maginate said...

'Westerner' in the profiles covers North America, South America, Europe, Australasia, Africa

If you're an 'Arab expat' you can't be from Asia.

Antarcticans are in a class of their own.

Lirun said...

lol

hemlock said...

what about the Filipinos - since the asians are clearly brown and desi looking... :(

Anonymous said...

Who is AJ?

Anonymous said...

The typical racial discrimination characteristic of Dubai – well obviously “black” Africans as well as black minorities in general are not worthy of any representation.
Just pathetic! Well at least they presented Emirati obesity trends somewhat correctly and understood that Khaleeji visitors will most likely not use the metro …

Has anyone noticed that both Westerners really look like Arab expats?
Too short and too dark – would the image of a sensual blonde with blue eyes be a breach with the absurd “Dubai Code of Conduct”?

What a waste of time!

Anonymous said...

BAHAHAHAHAHHA.

This is so hilariously bad.

Heba AlSamt said...

Way to go RTA ..!!

Dubai Jazz said...

Well, there are separate carriages for women. So the gender segregation is warranted for the virtual tour.

Dubai Jazz said...

"would the image of a sensual blonde with blue eyes be a breach with the absurd “Dubai Code of Conduct”?"

Anonymous, on behalf of the RTA, I apologize for not representing the Aryan race as it should have been represented.

The Firebrand said...

I'm not gonna lie this is very exciting! I may be taking an internship at the US embassy in Dubai next spring and I'm actually relieved that there is a metro. lol Being a Washington DC city dwellerI cannot convey in words how convenient this will be for someone who hadn't driven a car in years until recently.

Though to piggyback off of Sudanese Expat's comment about black people in Dubai, I wan't to ask you all just generally your observations about this. I'm a African- American female, and being unfamiliar with the intercultural milieu of Dubai I want to get my feelers out there for any safety tips, cultural sensitivities, discrimination issues that one may run into. I'd welcome your responses (and sorry for moving the thread into off topic territory).

B.D. said...

They're just avatars. Don't read so much into it.

I don't see why there is such a big deal being made about the avatars. I imagine the real purpose is to get some demographic data based on which avatars people click on to represent themselves. Exactly what the avatars look like is rather irrelevant. A "Westerner" from Europe or America could well look like any other race on the planet as there are substantial populations of all ethnic backgrounds in these places. All nationalities and races on the planet inhabit Dubai, so I don't think it was intended that these game markers would be fully representative.

On the above comment from the DC commentator, I don't think many people would disagree that Dubai is a generally safe place for anyone, although some women may get harassed more with stares than physical intimidation.

I was told by a British female expat of African origin that taxi drivers tend to ignore African looking customers while favoring whites, but this is probably a factor of going after the money--Europeans who are predominately white expected to spend more--and following one's own sexual preferences. You would expect the drivers not to act on these base instincts but human nature suggests that they will.

There is more bias in the UAE based on nationality than on racial or ethnic type.

Shamsa said...

Umm... the avatars are very offensive. I'm an emarati and i felt weird looking at how a "westerner" is dressed in businesswear whereas an "Asian" is dressed in a casual/less prestigious(?) manner...i can only imagine what an asian mustve felt looking at it!

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