LONG BEACH, Calif. — A Lufthansa experiment with virtual reality could be a sign of what’s to come in-flight entertainment.
On Oct. 11, the airline began offering Meta Quest 3 mixed-reality headsets programmed with its own content to flyers in its new Airbus A350 Allegris business-class cabins. One U.S. route, Munich-San Francisco, is among the three routes benefitting initially from the experiment. Another U.S. route, Munich-Chicago O’Hare, will get the service this month.
The airline offered trials of the technology on the trade show floor of the Future Travel Experience Expo here late last month. For those who haven’t tried mixed-reality headsets, they operate in two modes: one in which the user sees the virtual world in combination with the outside world and a second that is fully virtual.
Initial content offerings include movie selections, a meditation experience, virtual chess, a podcast and a primer on the flight’s destination.
In the fully virtual mode, the Lufthansa movie experience is transformative, creating the illusion of watching a film on a big screen, rather than on seatback screen or a laptop within the tight confines of an aircraft.
For the chess game, Lufthansa flyers can have the sensation of picking up the board and moving it into a more comfortable position. Pieces, too, are moved via hand motion, creating an illusion of being in front of an actual chess set. There’s also a feature that enables flyers to play head-to-head against another person on the plane, with that opponent represented by a virtual human avatar across the board.
The destination previews are a much improved version of the destination content that airlines often offer on seatback entertainment systems. Imagine a virtual flight over Manhattan, rather than two-dimensional photos of the Freedom Tower or Central Park accompanying a written descriptor. It’s an exciting way to get primed for a vacation.
For now, Lufthansa is offering the headsets to only a tiny subset of its customers, the approximately 80 flyers per day who travel in an Allegris business class. That number will increase as Lufthansa takes delivery of more Allegris-equipped aircraft.
Bjoern Becker, Lufthansa’s head of future intercontinental experience, said it is unlikely that a time will come when the carrier distributes headsets across full aircraft, although more widespread usage could be deployed as the size of the headsets shrink. Still, Becker made it clear that he foresees virtual reality playing a big role in the future of in-flight entertainment.
“We’ve been looking at screens in front of us in the aircraft for about 40 years, so it is time for something different. The feeling of small space in the aircraft is something you can overcome with this technology,” he said.
Mixed reality and VR, he added, are also great platforms for merchandising, which means airlines will have a financial incentive to make use of them. He cited as one example the ability to advertise vehicles in-flight via virtual test drives.
For now, Lufthansa’s VR programming is all offline. But streaming content is in the plans, with people connecting to aircraft WiFi via headsets. One exciting potential use: VR-enhanced viewing of live sporting events.
The future Becker sees is one in which mixed-reality headsets, which have already seen dramatic retail price drops, become smaller, more capable and much more common.
As lots of flyers begin taking their headsets on the planes, airlines will adapt.
“People won’t buy these for flying,” he said. “But if they are using them elsewhere, they will bring them on the plane. And then we need to be prepared.”
Lufthansa isn’t the only airline that has begun considering the potential impact of mixed-reality headsets on in-flight entertainment. But other airline executives who commented on the subject during forums at the expo and the sister Air Passenger Experience Association Global Expo weren’t as bullish, with several predicting staying power for seatback entertainment screens.
Ekrem Dimbiloglu, Delta’s managing director of customer experience, said that about 80% of flyers on Delta aircraft equipped with seatback systems make use of them. VR headsets, he added, are great to use at home, but they’re not necessarily what people will want in-flight.
“The data clearly shows that customers want to engage in seatback screens and sustain it for the whole flight. So I don’t think it’s dying because of a technology like VR,” Dimbiloglu said.
Antonio Fernandez, vice president of product and onboard experience for Aeromexico, agreed. Dreaming of uses for emerging technologies, he said, is fun, but for at least the next decade seatback screens will be king.
“The rumors of the death of seatback screens are greatly exaggerated,” Fernandez said.
Virgin America CEO Shai Weiss said he envisions an evolution in how airlines and passengers utilize seatback screens. Flyers now are increasingly wanting a multiscreen experience, Weiss said. The job of airlines will be to improve connectivity, and to offer multi-screen content.
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