The Future of In-Flight Entertainment: Apple Vision Pro's Role.
Experience cinema in the sky
Since exhibiting our Spatial IFE experience on Apple Vision Pro at AIX Hamburg 2024, we've been asked countless questions, with the main question being:
'Is this device going to replace traditional IFE?'.
I had conversations with airline CEOs, seat engineers and aircraft designers. My answer was always the same:
'While it may not be this exact hardware, the experience of watching a movie in a spatial environment blows everything I have experienced out of the water. That includes IMAX. This will become the main way to watch media in the near future'
Let's break down why Apple Vision Pro is a game-changer for in-flight entertainment.
What makes Apple Vision Pro ideal for flying?
I've had the opportunity to test our Spatial IFE experience on Apple Vision Pro on many flights, some in the back of the plane and some slightly further up. The most exciting component of this is the immersive feeling that Apple have curated using delightful animations and audio cues. We’ve built upon this with our software by surrounding the user in the media library after a short onboarding process. What’s better is the experience is the same whether you are upright in a seat or reclining in the comfort of a lie flat seat.
When our software you are still in the cabin, coexisting in mixed reality allowing you to interact with crew to order a well deserved drink. Everything is controlled with your eyes and fingers. Want to shut out the world around you? At the touch of a button you can be watching the movie on the Moon all on a screen the size of your house.
For the tech enthusiasts, here are the specifications that make Apple Vision Pro stand out. Each eye is presented with a micro-OLED display boasting approximately 3,660 × 3,200 pixels, totalling over 23 million pixels across both displays. This equates to more than a 4K resolution per eye, ensuring exceptionally sharp and vibrant visuals. If that doesn't mean anything to you perhaps this will. Most cinemas you will go to will project at 2k giving about a tenth of the resolution of Apple Vision Pro.
As a reference most airlines still have not got 4k screens in their embedded systems. The ones that do have only really been installing them in the last 5 years. 4k TVs started to become available in 2012, over 13 years ago. It will be a long time until anything embedded can come close to the fidelity of Apple Vision Pro.
Actually experiencing Spatial IFE on a Lufthansa flight from Munich to London
Overcoming the Challenges
Of course it's easy for me to say I have this amazing software that I can sell you on this amazing hardware and pretend there are no challenges to deploy. People's main questions on this front are 'How comfy is it to wear for hours on a flight?' and 'I've used VR before and it made me feel sick - does this do the same thing.'
From personal experience, I've worn Apple Vision Pro for over six hours straight at a convention while standing, and it remained comfortable. When you are sitting down or reclining you barely even feel it. On nausea this is something I have experienced myself with other headsets. The main things that negates nausea for me on Apple Vision Pro are the quality of the screens you look into as well as the seamless blending of the real world and the spatial world. I just never get any sickness even after watching several movies.
In addition we have built our software in a way to onboard passengers so that they understand the controls, the environments and also occasionally to remind them to take a break. It can get pretty immersive in there!
Already fully native on Apple Vision Pro
Final Thoughts
Where can a pre loaded Apple Vision Pro with Spatial IFE from Jet Pack come in. If I were designing aircraft seats today I would seriously consider the notion that while it may not be Apple Vision Pro that does it, spatial computing is coming to replace your laptops, iPhones and embedded IFE systems. Imagine the space and weight you could save without embedded systems. If you would like to know more or would like to experience Spatial IFE yourself, please get in touch at enquires@jetpackife.com
For premium passengers, only the best will do—and nothing else comes close.
Ed Bouverie is the Director of Operations at Jet Pack IFE and has over 15 years of experience delivering bespoke products to commercial airlines, private jets and royal flights.