ARVR Innovate is an annual conference and expo which gives those in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) industries a platform to showcase the capabilities of these emerging technologies and the benefits they pose for businesses that want to gain a competitive edge in terms of productivity and/or customer engagement. 

The event is held in Dublin each year and is attended by an extensive variety of professionals ranging from investors and developers to entrepreneurs and innovators, all with a keen interest in the growing industry. 

Inflight Dublin has been branching out into the AR sector by developing an innovative AR platform which can provide enhanced auxiliary revenue options on board, alongside our routine high quality and up to date content. We have worked closely with Dr. Brian Vaughan, Senior Lecturer in Creative Digital Media at the Technology University Dublin (TUD), and his team to fully create and implement the software to be incorporated and offered to airlines within our Everhub wireless IFE platform.

The demo involved the user being able to overlay a commodity typically sold on board a commercial flight, such as a watch, in order to aid them in their purchasing decisions. This experience involves hovering a mobile or tablet device over the SMART icons to gain access to a range of services directly with their devices. Other elements of the on-board AR platform include Entertainment, Duty-free shopping, Digital magazines, Food and Beverages, and Destination services.

A key benefit of incorporating AR into the IFE system is the reduction in weight for aircrafts which in turn leads to a reduction in fuel costs. For example, United Airlines saved nearly $300,000 a year by reducing the weight of each copy of their magazine by 0.03kg (CBS News, 2018). Alongside cost-savings is the continual benefits of keeping up with trends in the industry in order to provide the greatest experience for passengers possible.

Source: ‘Airlines cut operating costs by helping planes lose weight’ – CBS News, 2018