The future of inflight entertainment?

When it was first released, it got filed under ‘gimmick’, and to a large extent it is. But in conversation with Qantas staff, inflight entertainment vendors and industry insiders at the expo, it got the synapses firing. Is this going to be the future of inflight entertainment? Spoiler alert: no.

Not in its current form. Despite a futuristic faceplate, it’s basically a large mobile phone strapped onto the front of some thick lenses that create the experience, with a side trackpad for controls.

Although the pixels of the screen are clearly visible, it’s obvious that’s because you’re simply looking close up at a mobile phone screen displaying a Retina-quality image. Could super-Retina devices show close-up VR versions that didn’t show pixels? Almost certainly, but the price would be significantly higher and the advantages of using commercial off-the-shelf handsets lost. Besides, 3D movies haven’t even made it to aircraft yet – no, wait, high-definition movies haven’t made it to many aircraft yet, not even on the new enormous business and first class screens.

And it’s all very well and good to pop a couple of the relatively bulky headsets – about the size of an oldschool hatbox, or about five to six times the size of a pair of noise-cancelling headphones – in the overhead bins in first class on “select” Airbus A380 flights, but that’s not even feasible in business class, let alone economy.

As an opportunity for the little-used ‘forehead’ space in the A380 where there is currently a business class lounge, however, it’s not a bad idea.

It’s frankly surprising that Qantas and other airlines that didn’t plump for Etihad Residence-style beds, Emirates-style showers or Korean Airstyle Absolut-branded bars haven’t thought more about the marketing and upselling opportunities to what are invariably business or first class areas.

Once the system shrinks to the size of a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, though, it becomes something to pick up for a song at the airport or onboard, perhaps in conjunction with purchasing a token todownload the massive files needed for high-definition VR video over the inflight streaming entertainment network.

The videos Qantas chose to demonstrate – which, of course, are just examples, with real-world options to be selectable by the passenger – included a flightdeck view of a Boeing 737-800 landing at Hamilton Island, a dive off the Great Barrier Reef, and a brief tour of a luxury resort. The latter, naturally, is an excellent opportunity for some high-value ancillary revenue, while the tourism videos are in conjunction with Tourism NT.

First class eyeballs bring first class dollars.

Of course, a related criticism of the Qantas VR program is that it’s only available in the Qantas First lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as on “select” A380 flights. That’s fairly valid, although as with proofs of concept for other passenger experience amenities, it’s important to have a sensible phased rollout rather than a “big bang” approach.

But the goal is to persuade passengers that they are somewhere else.

This is not necessarily a passenger desire for anyone trying on the goggles in the rarefied Newsonian heights of the Qantas First lounge, where Rockpool’s latest delights or the sparkling pleasures of the Vallée de la Marne beckon. And those passengers are unlikely to want to subject themselves to the VR headset’s nerd factor – nobody looks cool with a mobile phone strapped to their forehead.

Where VR might well be useful, though, is in the meeting rooms of corporate Australia, where presentations to travel policy decision makers could include virtual reality tours of, say, those First lounges, new Qantas domestic Business lounge facilities, or even a peek behind the emerald green hexagonally patterned kimono of the Chairman’s Lounge.

Persuading people to fly Qantas, showing off cabin interiors, improving safety or maintenance training, helping nervous flyers to understand what cabins work and look like – now that could be a future for virtual reality in the airline world.