Is your airplane tracking how much you drink? These sensors may be offer better service.
HAMBURG, Germany – Your airplane may be tracking how much you drink on your next flight.
Among the Crystal Cabin Award winners at the Aircraft Cabin Interiors Expo was the InteliSence system from Collins Aerospace.
The array of sensors is partly meant to help maintenance crews better track the aircraft’s systems, but also to allow flight attendants to provide more efficient, personalized service to passengers.
In a presentation about the system, a Collins executive said it may even monitor what you’re drinking and how full your glass is, which would allow a flight attendant to come over with your beverage of choice and offer a refill without having to return to the galley.
“InteliSence is how we improve the passenger experience by providing an intelligent, connected system that communicates the service needs of passengers in real-time for tailored customization and an enhanced number of meaningful interactions between crew and passengers,” Mark Vaughan, Collins Aerospace’s vice president of cabin experience – interiors, said in a statement. “The system can also monitor and report system health back to the ground, providing operators the data necessary to proactively mitigate faults quickly, more efficiently and predictively. The system is scalable, providing a pathway for new technology and service needs as needed.”
During the presentation at the expo, Collins’ representative insisted that the system would be turned off by default and passengers would have to opt in for their activities to be tracked.
Other uses include helping flight attendants judge when business class seats are ready to be converted into beds and other passenger personal preferences.
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Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New tech could allow flight attendants to track how much you drink
