KLM – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

September 15, 2018

KLM Launches New AR Service To Help Passengers Check The Size Of Their Hand Baggage

As immersive technology become more common across a number of industry’s one that is seeing rapid adoption is that of the aerospace industry. Earlier this week KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced that they have launched a new augmented reality (AR) app that allows passengers a way to check if their hand baggage is the correct size, before even leaving their own home.

As reported by gtp headlines, the app allows anyone with a compatible mobile device to see if their hand baggage is within the permitted dimensions by comparing it to a virtual KLM suitcase. Thanks to the technology being used a user is able to quickly place the virtual suitcase down and then begin interacting with it in the real-world to check that their baggage is the correct size. Once again, all of this can be done at home before even arriving at the airport where it would then be to late to do anything about it.

“By offering this service, we are placing the needs of our customers first. We also continue to be pioneers of innovation in our passengers’ best interests,” Air France, KLM Senior Vice President Digital Pieter Groeneveld said in a statement.

KLM AR hand baggage

The new AR hand baggage check has been added to the already existing functionalities of the KLM App which including up-to-date flight information; flight booking facilities; online check in; downloading of boarding passes or reserving specific seats. Now with the new AR hand baggage check features, the KLM App is the one stop shop for passengers looking to travel with the airline. The app was also recently launched in the Airport Map, which is a digital map of around 24 different airports which enables passengers an easier way to navigate the busy locations.

This follows on from KLM revealing earlier in the month that it was investigating possible risks of using virtual reality (VR) on flights. This research was carried out by the Dutch aerospace research centre NLR and features over 40 employees volunteering to act in the tests which were carried out over a two-day period. You can see more about the research here.

The AR hand baggage feature is now available as part of the KLM app which you can download on iOS. VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on KLM’s AR and VR ventures in the future so stay tuned for more.

September 3, 2018

KLM Investigate Possible Risks of Using VR On Flights

An increasing number of airlines are turning to virtual reality (VR) to entertain passengers, particularly during long haul flights. The immersive nature of VR allows those long, often uncomfortable hours to pass quickly, but some research has found that wearing a VR headset in flight might come with its own risks.

The absorbing nature of VR is a large part of its appeal, but it is also what causes it to be a potential danger, according to recent research carried out by Dutch aerospace research centre NLR.

NLR conducted research at the cabin simulator at KLM’s base in Amsterdam, with 40 KLM employees volunteering to act as passengers during a two-day evaluation, which involved three flight scenarios lasting roughly 10-20 mins each.

The three scenarios involved a calm flight, some turbulence and a rapid decompression. Two-thirds of the participants were given VR headsets, which the other volunteers viewed the same content on a smartphone.

The NLR research found that flight attendents had more trouble establishing contact with participants wearing VR headsets during the calm scenario, though otherwise the test was unremarkable.

During the decompression trial, it was reported that some VR heatset users remaining unaware of the emergency, being utterly absorbed in the VR scenario, despite the simulated shaking of the cabin, loud noise, flashing emergency lights and the oxygen masks being deployed. Crucially, they also didn’t hear cabin crew calling out vital safety instructions.

The trial is still undergoing analysis, and full results are due to be published some time later in the month. NLR commented: “The effect that researchers suspected beforehand was apparent during the test, namely that wearing a VR headset affects communication between passengers and crew,” adding that using VR headsets, “might affect the level of onboard service, and there is potentially also a safety risk.”

For future coverage of VR in research, industry and education, keep checking back with VRFocus.

October 8, 2017

KLM Giving Budget Airline Passengers A Virtual Upgrade

Flying economy class can be a miserable experience. Crammed in like a sardine, sitting for hours on uncomfortable seats, forced to pay outrageous fees for the luxury of having actual luggage. Dutch airline KLM are using virtual reality (VR) to improve the flying experience for budget airline passengers, and get in some sneaky advertising.

KLM, who are part of the Air France-KLM group, have been distributing inexpensive VR headsets to passengers waiting to board flights in budget airlines at JFK New York airport. The headsets offer those passengers a ‘virtual upgrade’, where users can see what their flight might have been like had they chosen KLM as their carrier.

The VR app shows users the sort of things offered aboard a KLM flight, such as free newspapers, on-flight entertainment, an attentive cabin crew that serve a full meal of the sort rarely offered on budget flights.

Passengers can watch a full episode of one of the TV shows offered as part of KLM’s entertainment packages, or ten minutes of a blockbuster movie. Users can spend as much time as they wish inside the VR simulation, pretending they are aboard a far more expensive flight.

Air France recently announced its own budget airline, Joon, targeted at younger passengers. For those who wish to escape the reality of budget air travel, the KLM Flight Upgrader app is available from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The KLM cardboard headsets are also available in limited quantities from the KLM website, branded with the amusing slogan ‘Do Not Disturb – Pretending to fly KLM’.

VRFocus will continue to report on new developments in the VR industry.