No More Aisle: The High-Tech Window Seat of the Future

Yahoo Travel
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Fliers of the future won’t just be looking out their windows — they’ll be reading them. (Illustration: Airbus)

Air travelers of the future won’t have to look at their tablets or seat-back monitors for in-flight entertainment — all they’ll have to do is look out the window.

Airbus has filed for a U.S. Patent for its new smart window, which the aircraft maker calls an “interactive aircraft cabin window display system” that provides a “method for interactive visualization of information in an aircraft cabin.”

Related: The Future of Airplanes Could be This Windowless Jet

Soon, you won’t have to rely on announcements from the cockpit for a description of what you’re flying over below (“This is your Captain. I’d like to direct your attention to the right side of the aircraft, where we’re flying over the Grand Canyon”).

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Airbus has filed a patent application for a smart window that provides info on what you’re looking at below. (Illustration: Airbus)

Instead, in the cabin of the future you’ll be able to just touch your window, which doubles as a touchscreen, and information about what you’re flying over will pop up on the screen. How tall is the London Eye? You’ll be able to settle that bet with your seatmates as you descend into Heathrow.

The system will also be able to track your eye movements and provide info on what you’re looking at.

Related: Coming to an Airplane Near You: Windowless Cockpits

The new patent application, which Skift reports was filed on March 19, is the latest in Airbus’ quest to revolutionize the in-flight experience for passengers who take to the skies in 2050.

Flying in the future looks awesome! Airbus has released details of its Concept Plane Cabin. (Video: Airbus/YouTube)

Airbus’ previously announced plans for its Concept Cabin include holographic recreation decks, self-cleaning seats, and cabin walls and floors that can become transparent, giving passengers views of the skies.

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Airbus’ Concept Plane includes a transparent body that will allow passengers to see around and below them. (Illustration: Airbus)

And judging from the patents Airbus is starting to file in support of this concept, it’s clear that flying in the future will be much, much cooler — and fights over the window seat will be much, much more intense.

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