Virgin Atlantic trials wearable technology

Dubai: In an industry first, Virgin Atlantic concierge staff are using Google Glass and other wearable technology as part of a six-week trial.

 The wearable technology, which also includes the Sony Smartwatch, is being used to test run a high-tech personalised customer service, said Stephane Cheikh, Innovation Manager at SITA lab in Dubai on Tuesday.

Cheikh was speaking at a media roundtable on the sidelines of the second Aviation ICT Forum in Dubai.

The trial has been developed in collaboration with aviation information technology provider SITA.

The wearable technology is integrated with a purpose built application co-developed by SITA and Virgin Atlantic.

Business and first class Virgin Atlantic passengers at London Heathrow will be greeted by concierge staff using the wearable technology. The staff will be able to retrieve personal passenger information, including their destination, and start the check-in process. Future plans for the technology and application includes being able to retrieve passenger dietary preferences.

Cheikh said the use of wearable technology replaces large inflight paper processes that include the list of the passengers on board the airplane.

“Now they get the task and passenger name and a lot more information on the watch or the Google Glass,” Chiekh said.

However, with Google Glass products still unavailable on the market the roll-out of the trial is limited. Cheikh said that just five staff out of 10 are wearing the technology during the shift.

Google could not be reached for comment.

SITA and Virgin Atlantic conducted testing last week prior to launching the six-week pilot scheme. Cheikh said that the initial reaction has been positive but after the trial SITA will have to see if they’re able to market and productise the technology and application.

More than 800 Apple iPads with SITA integrated applications have been rolled out to Etihad Airways. Cabin crew use the iPad as a replacement for the inflight paper processes.