Panasonic Avionics, the world leader in inflight entertainment and communications (IFEC) solutions, has used the Aircraft Passenger Expo (APEX) to showcase both their internal R&D projects and innovative or up and coming technologies from around the tech industry. First in a separate section called the “Cool Room” and now on the main floor as innovation took center stage at their 2016 booth in Singapore. For the past six years, Neutral Digital has created airline passenger focused experiences that incorporate these new technologies. Including next generation multi-device UIs, Nod Gesture Rings, Leap Motion, Gear VR and this year Augmented Reality with the Hololens.
Panasonic asked Neutral Digital to develop an Augmented Reality (AR) Travel App to demonstrate how this technology could improve the passenger journey. We proposed to use the Microsoft Hololens, as it was the best mobile AR solution available, and having an untethered experience was paramount to the context of travel and mobility.
Neutral created a scenario where the passenger had just landed at Singapore’s Changi Airport, was to be guided to the baggage pickup, then picked a mode of transport to their hotel and finally explore the city on their way to a restaurant. We wanted to also showcase the two types of AR content: Widgets parented to the user, outside in view, and Immersive Context, inside out view.
