Alaska Airlines is going to offer an amped up in-flight entertainment experience to first class passengers on select flights. The airline will provide when with virtual reality movies which they will be able to experience in-flight. This is part of a pilot involving the SkyLights’ Allosky Cinematic VR headset on the airline’s Seattle-Boston and Boston-San Diego routes.
Alaska points out that it’s the “first airline in North America to trial virtual reality headsets as an in-flight entertainment device.” The first class passengers will be able to view immersive 3D and forward-facing 360 degree films.
However, given that some people do get motion sickness in virtual reality experiences, it will also be possible to watch the content in 2D in case passengers feel that 3D and the sensation of air travel is becoming a bit too much to handle.
The headset itself is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip and provides Full HD resolution per eye. Films from partners like 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and EIM will be offered to passengers in first class. The list includes movies such as Ready Player One and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
There will also be a selection of short virtual reality films that have been curated for in-flight viewing. The headset will also be able to play content that users already own in addition to streaming shows from Netflix and other services. However, it’s not clear if passengers will be able to access their subscriptions when they’re using the headset in-flight.
Filed in . Read more about Virtual Reality (VR). Source: apex.aero