An artist’s rendition of a “windowless” plane.
NERVOUS flyers prepare to be freaked out the more: aeronautic
designers are working to remove windows in planes to save weight and fuel. Less
than a decade from now, it’s hoped smartscreen panels will line the inside of
plane fuselages.
The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is in the early
stages of developing lightweight display screens that would replace windows
with virtual views of the sky outside.
Plane windows are surprisingly heavy due to the
reinforcement needed to stop them snapping in the extreme temperatures caused
by altitude changes. CPI has calculated that for every 1% reduction in weight
on planes, there’s a 0.75% fuel saving. Add up every window on a plane and
that’s big dollars.
It’s not just about cost cutting. “Less fuel means less CO2
emissions into the atmosphere and lower operational cost,” CPI claims.
But what about all the petrified aviophobes out there?
According to Psych Central as many as 20 to 30 per cent of people are
apprehensive about flying, and between two and 10 per cent of people at any
point in time have a phobia about flying.
Imagine the panic if this happened on a flight ...
Storm approaching!
Add all the acrophobes who are terrified of heights and you
have a bunch of very scared passengers.
How will they cope?
CPI says passengers would be able to switch the view off in
their immediate vicinity if it was disturbing them (not quite sure how a totter
to the toilet would go) and could use their screens to surf the internet
instead.
Similar technology has already debuted on the new Royal
Caribbean ship Quantum of the Seas, which has virtual windows in its inside
cabins.
The virtual balcony aboard Quantum of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean added a virtual banister to the displays after
initial testers complained that the open ocean view was too scary and made them
feel like they were falling when the ship was in high seas.
Wonder how the testers would cope at 35,000ft?
Watch Video Here
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