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Crystal Cabin Awards announced

7 Apr 2011 by BusinessTraveller

The Crystal Cabin Awards for innovation in aircraft interior design have been announced as part of this week’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. With awards in various areas of onboard design, ranging from inflight entertainment to passenger comfort, readers can expect to see some of the winning designs on forthcoming flights.  

German manufacturer Recaro was the winner in the Passenger Comfort category, for its innovative Skycouch economy seating launched this month on Air New Zealand’s new B777-300ER aircraft. Business Traveller has published several articles about the new product, which enables couples and parents travelling with children to take a trio of economy seats and convert them into a lie-flat space. For more information on this product click here.

UK firm Contour was runner up in this category, for the development of the premium economy Space Seat, again installed on Air New Zealand's new aircraft. This dual centre aisle seat has been specifically designed for two people travelling together, so couples or travelling companions can relax together, sleep or turn to face each other at mealtimes, with the middle console providing a table for two, all while maintaining a degree of privacy.

Also runner up was Mueller/Romca with its first class bathroom which can already be seen on board Lufthansa’s A380 and features full wall mirrors and the first airborne urinal. For more information on the carrier's new first class cabins, see online news May 19, 2010.

IMS won the prize for inflight entertainment (IFE) with a new embedded system called RAVE, which stands for "reliable, audio/video entertainment." RAVE is a self-contained system that works through high-speed and reliable Ethernet and is being offered at one third of the price of current IFE solutions.

IMS vice-president of sales and marketing Harry Gray says RAVE can host "Whatever your pocketbook can afford" in terms of content, increasing the possibilities for airlines. This has led to the system being implemented on flights for Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines and Air Berlin. The firm also recently developed an IFE display that is intended to solely show passengers' own content on board via their personal electronic devices, such as the Apple iPod.

Runner up in this category was PFW Aerospace for its “speaking seat-rails.” The seat-rails are connected with integrated RF waveguides, capable of connecting all aeroplane seats to a high-speed entertainment system without any complex or expensive wiring. With data rates of more than 10 GB the speaking seat-rail can supply next-generation entertainment data volumes, such as high-definition or 3D video and internet to passenger seats.

Winner of the Judges Commendation Prize was Thales (in association with Qatar Airways), for developing the TouchPMU, a menu-driven 3.8in touch-screen device that is based on Android operating systems and is designed to provide airlines with greater flexibility in terms of the entertainment and information they can offer travellers, including up to date news, sport and social networks.

The handheld device enables passengers to watch a movie on the seatback display while playing a game, viewing a live travel map or accessing a locally stored bank of applications. This comes at a time where touchscreen IFE handsets are growing in popularity, as seen with the Panasonic handset onboard Virgin Atlantic's new A330 aircrafts (see online news April 2). Qatar Airways says it will feature the TouchPMU on its forthcoming Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Winner of the University Innovation Award went to Munich University of Applied Sciences for its Airgonomic’ seating which utilises smart materials in the design of passenger seats for economy class on short-haul flights. Integrated high-tech gel pads are stimulated by electronic impulses and provide higher seating comfort as it moulds to the posture of the individual passenger.

The greener cabin, health and safety award went to German company Elektro-Metall Export for its new non-touch waste flap for use in aeroplane bathrooms. This allows for passengers and crew members to dispose of paper towels into the lavatory waste bin without touching the flap. The prototype is already being used in Airbus's A340-600 first class lavatories.

Other exhibits included Airborne Hotel’s development of a bi-level seating concept, ensuring a fully-reclining seat-bed for every passenger, creating a similar sleeping arrangement to that found in train sleeper cabins. This could potentially lead to a bunk bed layout in economy class for overnight flights, an idea originally floated by Lufthansa as far back as 2007 (see online news July 20, 2007).

Among the more outlandish concepts on show was a gaming chair developed by Contour. With a front mounted monitor on a Kevlar arm and integrated sound excluding speakers, the seat becomes a haven for the well travelled gamer.

This concept comes at an exciting time for IFE, with some more realistic options being developed, such as B/E Aerospace’s new Pinnacle seat which features an integrated iPad, as well as the IFE systems that can already be seen on board Thomas Cook and some US airlines which utilise Sony's Playstation Portable to provide passengers with games as well as movies and TV shows. 

Report by Scott Carey

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