February 6, 2014

Future technologies to help change the environment and self-perception of airline passengers

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VR-HYPERSPACE – FLIGHT COMFORT IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Does this sound familiar? After a long check-in procedure you are finally sitting in your assigned seat on the aircraft. But the seat is too narrow, the foot-well is too tight, you have neighbors using both armrests, and the family with small children in the row in front increases the noise level considerably. If only there was a way to hide the environment or perhaps even create an illusion of comfort and relaxation! This illusion could soon become a reality, leading to a significant improvement of airline passenger comfort. Working together with seven other partners across Europe, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart within the project "VR Hyperspace" hope to realise this vision. This research project, which could transform airline passenger comfort, is led by The University of Nottingham in the UK.