Touch-less loos and self-cleaning bathrooms, in-flight entertainment screens on the back of seats that are like giant iPads, and little hammocks for your sleepy heads…
These are just some of the concepts currently being explored by airlines and aviation manufactures around the world that will transform air travel for ever.
And boy is the future looking pretty sweeeeeeeeeeeet.
Last month we reported on some exciting developments in the world of First Class flying, with private suites fitted with king-sized beds soon to be a real possibility for cashed-up flyers – it will basically look and feel like a hotel room in the clouds.
And we’ve previously written about what planes could actually look like in 15 years time and the future of luggage.
But these new developments, hot off the press, are a whole other level.
Take the self-cleaning loos and toilets, for example.
In the future, visiting the bathroom on a plane will be an almost entirely touch-less experience – the wave of a hand or the press of a foot pedal will activate everything you need to do your business.
(You’ll still have to put bum to seat though.)
Indeed, Airbus’ new A330neo aircraft will have lavatories with smart technology, including anti-bacterial surfaces, self-flushing toilets and soothing sounds.
Inside Airbus’ new A330neo aircraft
But we’re not done talking about the future of toilets here.
In the near future, toilets will be entirely self-cleaning, through the use of UV light.
Yup, in the future, as soon as you exit the bathroom, the toilet will automatically shift into “self-cleaning mode” whereby a strong UV lights flashes, killing 99.9 percent of bacteria found on the toilet seat and every other surface in the loo.
“It literally makes them explode,” according to Jamie Childress of Boeing.
It even lifts and lowers the toilet seat.
Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzljLEERd0Q
Not only is this new piece of technology pretty cool (and the winner of a Crystal Cabin Award), but it’s also likely to lessen the chances of passengers contracting colds or other illnesses onboard during their flight.
Meanwhile, back at your seat, a new in-flight entertainment system with the largest digital seatback surface ever – a whopping 22-inch or 26-inch HD touchscreen surface – is currently being developed by Thales, a French multinational company that designs and builds electrical systems and provides services for the aviation industry, in collaboration with B/E Aerospace.
The new entertainment system will be fitted on a slim seat in both economy and premium economy cabins.
Other notable concepts currently making their way through development include cool little portable headsets for an immersive 2D/3D experience for passengers as they watch a film, crumb-less croissants (because crumbs are just annoying, mmmkay!), and – get this – seats that smell like coffee.
Yup.
Zodiac Aerospace is reportedly working on a seat that emits pleasant smells, such as coffee, lemon, lime and sleep-inducing lavender, because no body wants to sit next to a stinky passenger!
