You can have the best selection of in-flight movies on your transatlantic flight, but to truly enjoy them you’ve got to be sat upright, looking down at that little screen. You’ve also got to hope your seat mate is kind enough to leave their window blind down, otherwise you’re looking at nothing but glare.
Now British Airways is hoping to provide its first class passengers with a more immersive experience, dishing out VR headsets on flights from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport. The SkyLights AlloSky headsets will offer a personal cinema experience, with a wide range of films, documentaries and travel programs available in 2D, 3D and 360-degree formats. This will enable passengers to kick back, and even lie flat, while enjoying the in-flight entertainment.
Helpfully, BA says, there are some potentially therapeutic benefits in store for those with a fear of flying. There’s a selection of guided meditations and sound therapy designed specifically for those with the phobia. With that in mind, the selection of movies is unlikely to include Final Destination.
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Of course, a VR session is unlikely to be helpful for those passengers who experience travel sickness. Travel sickness plus VR motion sickness actually sounds like it might be the worst combination of all time, so sufferers of either should probably avoid this trial.
In a press release, Sajida Ismail, Head of Inflight Product at British Airways, said: “We are always looking at the latest technology to enhance our customers’ experience on the ground and in the air. Virtual reality has the power to revolutionise in-flight entertainment and we’re really excited to trial these new glasses as they should create a unique and memorable journey for our First customers.”
Of course, we’d probably swap all of this for functioning transatlantic Wi-Fi that allows us to stream whatever we want, but this is nice too. Let’s just help BA does a good job of sterilising the headsets after de-planing.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
