Could traveling in the metaverse while traveling in the real world be a thing?

One company’s novel idea for in-flight entertainment uses the metaverse as a means to keep travelers less bored while they fly. Could travel in the metaverse while traveling in the real world actually be a thing?

The German Company INFLIGHT VR is trialing a novel approach to keeping passengers entertained while flying: Virtual Reality. In a post shared on their LinkedIn page, the company announced a trial was underway with a Chinese Airline. Spring Airlines, a Chinese carrier, recently trialed the interesting concept on a flight from Shanghai to Baishan, and reported that passengers loved the idea.

INFLIGHT VR bills itself as one of the leaders in the VR and Travel universe. Their mission notes they are, “committed to utilizing the tremendous opportunities of VR to bring value to travel companies and their guests.”

The company believes that the metaverse can play a huge role in the future of travel. Notably, their own internal research suggests that the market in China is most ripe for these kinds of technological developments.

The company has previously conducted a trial with Sun Express Airlines where they charged 8 Euros for access to 15 VR headsets. The results? Extremely positive, in their words.

“Passengers responded to the solution extremely well, on some flights at a 100% take rate and an extremely high satisfaction. The average usage time per guest was over 76 minutes. 83% of the passengers rated it as easy to use, even though they had mostly no prior experience with VR. 75% felt the solution provided good value for money”

Sun VR Trial

By using the metaverse, the company hopes to provide new forms of entertainment for passengers and travelers through their extensive content library which features games like virtual chess, and “Dodge This” as well more traditional cinematic content or travel content.

The firm has also conducted a trial with the Star Alliance where it outfitted a lounge with VR headsets. Users of the program reportedly stayed in the metaverse for almost 45 minutes.

Could access to the metaverse while we are traveling in the real-verse be a thing? One of the worst parts of travel is the boring spaces between destinations – and that is most apparent on airplanes. We distract ourselves with downloaded movies or shows, books, and games. Is this just a new take on an old problem?

Many interesting questions emerge. What kinds of challenges emerge with a VR solution on a plane that will be used by thousands of passengers? Will passengers injure themselves or others wildly swatting at a virtual ball in their tiny coach seat? How will they get cleaned? Are the headsets durable enough to standup to the harsh realities of travel. All great questions that INFLIGHT VR will have to answer if they intend to make the metaverse accessible to us in the real-verse while we are traveling.

Image credit: INFLIGHT VR