Whenever U.S. airlines offer something new in terms of in-flight entertainment, it’s big news. Who’s offering Wi-Fi? Who’s offering it for free? Who has a bigger TV screen? Who offers the widest variety of programming. You know what I mean.
One of the biggest things to come down the pike of entertainment is augmented reality. Wikipedia describes it as, “…an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory.”
Augmented reality (AR for short) has already begun to have its place in aviation. Jasoren, a US software developer that specializes in building virtual and augmented reality applications, reports that AR is currently being used to improve ramp handling operations, the aircraft assembly process, communication, pilots’ data collection and personnel training, among others.
With AR’s foot in the door of aviation, you knew it was only a matter of time until it would be used to enhance airlines’ IFE. And now it has.
Chinese start-up Rokid, a maker of AR glasses, and Hainan Airlines have announced a partnership to launch the world’s first AR in-flight experience.
On February 7th, passengers traveling from Shenzhen to Xi’an were surprised to learn that AR glasses were on their seats. While wearing them, the PAX were the first to try out an immersive entertainment experience by being able to enjoy 3D films with a 360-inch borderless screen, 1080P resolution, and a 120Hz refresh rate. It was said to be like watching a movie screen at 30,000 feet.
PC: Rokid
Over the next month, over 20 Hainan Airline flights will offer the use of these Rokid AR Entertainment Kits, which will be pre-loaded with several 3D offline movies (all of them appropriate for the Lunar New Year). The airline is to have bought hundreds of Rokid AR glasses and they are allowing PAX to use them for free during this time. Each pair typically retails for a little over 3,000 yuan ($420).
From Rokid:
The Rokid AR Glasses are designed for comfort, weighing only 75g (2.65 ounces), with a battery life of up to 5 hours, allowing consumers to easily complete watching three movies at one go. Equipped with dual directional speakers, passengers can enjoy high-quality sound without disturbing others.
As a comparison, Apple’s new Vision Pro AR glasses cost about $3,500 per pair and weigh from 600 to 650 grams (about 21 to 23 ounces).
According to CNBC, Rokid’s deal with Hainan Airlines is more of a marketing effort to boost consumers’ awareness of AR glasses, rather than a large commercial deal.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
