When it comes to curtain raisers, the Passenger Experience Conference (PEC) in Hamburg is nothing if not ambitious in picking its opening topics for discussion.
With subjects ranging from the latest thinking around autonomous cars and planes to Hyperloop trains and Galactic passenger spacecraft, the PEC certainly delivered at the start of a busy Passenger Experience Week.
Delegates, nicely warmed up by the unseasonably sunny weather, were able to sit back and hear three leading industrial designers talk about how close we are to achieving feats that would have been deemed impossible just a few short years ago.
As moderator Blake Emery, director of differentiation strategy at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told the audience: “Here in the industry, we’re looking at a faster experience. We’re right on the doorstep of the convergence of all that technology and all these things happening. It’s a very exciting place to be. I also think it’s a place that has some responsibility.
“I think we need to think about and reflect upon what some of this new technology means – what it’s going to mean for the future, what it’s going to mean for our lives. And how do we want to incorporate it?
He added that, to a large extent, industry sometimes doesn’t realise the unintended consequences of some technology. “People are always predicting the future, and sometimes we’re good at it, sometimes we’re not so good. But I don’t know if anyone could have thought about or predicted the degree to which our devices, for example, have become such an extension of us.”
Autonomous Vehicles
First to speak in the plenary session was Richard Chung, vice-president, innovation and design for seating specialist Adient. Pointing out that autonomous vehicles are a matter of when, not if, he predicted that by 2025–2030 “around 40% of all cars will be autonomous vehicles. If you have a son or daughter aged around 10 years old, they may never have a driving licence.”
He highlighted the changing role of vehicle travel, in which the passengers have more of an airline experience, able to focus their attention on more personal or business matters, while being transported seamlessly from one location to another.
It may sound a little space age, but then again, space isn’t going to be such an exclusive place after all. Adam Wells, head of design at Virgin Galactic, gave an insight into the challenges of designing for such an audacious commercial endeavour. Richard Branson’s most high-profile project is making astonishing progress, with the second spacecraft – VSS Unity – rolled out last year.
Just last week a rocket was fitted which saw it flown to 82,000 feet, and also taking it supersonic for the first time. The end goal is to fly it to 360,000 feet.
He also spoke about the unique passenger experience that is being created, with travellers to come to Spaceport America in New Mexico where they will have to undergo three days of training before undertaking a flight. “There are so many unique design considerations, like dealing with the G-force on take-off, the noise on re-entry and so on. It’s actually going to be louder re-entering the atmosphere than leaving it.” He also pointed out how the design has to incorporate passengers being weightless and able to move around the cabin – “It makes you think carefully about which windows they will be looking out of above or below them. There is no upside down in space.”
Bringing the audience back down to earth was Paul Priestman, director and chairman at PriestmanGoode, designers for airlines and aircraft manufacturers among many other things (it designed Qatar Airways’ Qsuite, for example). He focused on the impact of new forms of high-speed transport such as Hyperloop and the opportunities presented by autonomous vehicles and passenger drones.
He commented that, whatever the mode of transport, “Customer experience is all about consistency. It creates a feeling of comfort and security, also of calmness. That is the ultimate.”
With three conference streams during the day: ‘Personalising the Journey’, ‘Convergence and Mobility’, and ‘Flexible and Sustainable Thinking’, delegates were given a wide range of food for thought. With such a stimulating start to the week, they were no doubt primed and ready to hit the show floors as the co-located Aircraft Interiors Expo, Passenger Technology Solutions and the World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo get underway at the Hamburg Messe.
