The BA 2119: Flight of the Future exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery enters its final ten days of display with tickets still available for Fly, a state-of-the-art virtual reality experience.
The exhibition, which launched on August 1, and is free to enter, has been developed through a partnership between British Airways and the Royal College of Art and has proved very popular with visitors keen to explore the what flying may look like over the next 100 years.
The exhibition brings to life the BA 2119: Flight of the Future report, which found that hyper-personalisation, immersive virtual realities, 3D printed health solutions, modular aircraft connected to city infrastructure, hypersonic flying and the rise of super-slow ”flight cruises”, are all part of the future of air travel. The report was commissioned by the airline to mark its centenary year, in collaboration with the leading data-led trends agency Foresight Factory. The report is one of the largest global consumer travel studies of its kind - surveying 13,000 consumers across ten countries - and consultations with leading sector experts and futurologists to offers a picture of what flying will look like in 20, 40, 60 and even 100 years into the future.
It also showcases Fly, a one-of-a kind, full-motion, virtual reality experience. Built by award-winning virtual reality creators and an Oscar-winning practical effects team, Fly enables users to become a time-travelling pilot, from the earliest imaginings of Leonard da Vinci and his ornithopter, to the Wright Brothers’ success on Kitty Hawk, to that first inaugural passenger flight to Paris. Users will experience Concorde, the brand new A350 and the imagined flight of future. Tickets for Fly are available from www.ba.com/ba2119
The concepts and installations, designed by forty post-graduate students from the Royal College of Art, include:
Aer
A shape-changing smart luggage transportation concept. The Aer carrier combines generative design and nanotechnology to rethink how people and airlines will move luggage in 2050. Aer will help simplify travel with auto-packing features, DNA based security, gesture transparency and autonomous movement.
S-LOW DOWN
S-LOW DOWN is a future flight experience that will address customer wellness and sustainable living needs. New slow flight experiences will revive the magic of world travel, giving travellers permission to slow down and immerse themselves in experiences unique to the air.
Tastenation
TASTENATION combines DNA testing and instant body health data with 3D printed food to create a new multi-sensory dining experience, helping customers to make physical and cultural adjustments on the flight of the future.
Curio
Curio is a hypersonic modular aircraft with zero emissions, circumnavigating the world at high speeds and collecting travellers as it flies. Curio’s state-of-the-art interior and bespoke service will enhance the in-flight experience and reshape the possibilities of aviation.
The Future of Luggage
The Future of Luggage envisions that within the next 100 years travellers will be carrying far fewer items as technology will be able to dematerialise the requirement for objects.
Aerium
Aerium imagines a world where synthetic biological entities are integrated seamlessly with electromechanical systems on board. This new industry of bioavionics will challenge the way we experience flight, offering sustainable solutions for the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Airwear
This project investigates the dialogue between the body and the seat, questioning what it means to be seated whilst flying. Airwear is a wearable seat that increases travellers’ comfort, freedom of movement and wellbeing during flight.
AVII
AVII aims to improve each traveller’s experience by thoroughly understanding their physical and emotional needs using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in collaboration with cabin crew. The AI, known as AVII, will analyse each customer’s needs based on data they have submitted and will advise the crew to enable them to provide a hyperpersonalised service.
Alex Cruz, British Airways Chairman and CEO, said: “To mark our centenary, we’ve been reflecting on our past and thanking our customers for making us the airline we are today. It’s down to our customers’ sense of adventure and desire to travel that we’ve grown from that first flight to Paris in August 1919 to the airline we are today.
“And we want to take them with us as we look forward to the next 100 years. Our BA 2119: Flight of the Future exhibition explores what the customer experience of the future will look like, pushing the boundaries of imagination and exploring how we, and future generations, will travel the globe.”
Further information on the exhibition and tickets for the virtual reality experience can be found at www.ba.com/ba2119.
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