VR CASE STUDY & EXHIBITION DESIGN
AIR TRAVEL POST COVID-19
What is
Virtual Reality?
With a life-size, 3-D environment without boundaries for the ultimate user experience, VR can provide a way to connect consumers with products and services prior to buying and also give them a way to submerge themselves in your brand. Virtual Reality (VR), as an immersive environment, need to be similar to the real world in order to create a lifelike and believable experience grounded in reality. A person using virtual reality equipment can look around the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting of a head-mounted display that provides an intense user experience. In the field of education, the immersive experience that VR provides can be used by instructors and teachers to improve learners’ intention of engaging in learning activities. VR can be applied in the learning of various subjects, such as: physics, medicine, chemistry,
linguistics, demographics, etc. Virtual Reality in technical terms is straight-forward. It is the term used to describe a three-dimensional, computer generated environment which can be explored and interacted with by a person. That person becomes part of this virtual world or is immersed within this environment and whilst there, is able to manipulate objects or perform a series of actions. “Why should’nt people be able to teleport wherever they want?” - Palmer Lucky (Founder of Oculus VR) Brands are already exploring the potential of virtual reality to create an immersive marketing experience. Virtual reality is rapidly reaching the marketing industry, and brands have already started using it to increase awareness, promote engagement and enhance the customer experience.
“The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you’re actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it’s different from anything they’ve ever experienced in their lives.” - Mark Zuckerberg
Virtual Reality in
2020
“We’ve shifted from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, and now we’re transitioning to the Experience Age.” - Tico Ballagas, AI Designer After decades of speculation, anticipation, hype, and disappointment, is 2020 virtual reality’s breakout year? After studying the psychology and ergonomics of virtual and augmented technologies, you’ll know that the key to mass adoption lies in a positive user experience, which virtual reality is now poised to deliver. Early research on the latest devices shows that the VR technologies of today have made significant progress on the fundamental comfort and usability challenges that frustrated previous attempts to commercialize the technology. Virtual reality has inspired such fervent interest and debate partly because the fundamental building blocks of the technology have existed since the late 60s. The challenge of investors, developers, and engineers has been to transform that fundamental technology into a positive user experience and a commercial success.
hotels, virtual reality is a research tool that enables potential guests to get a glimpse of what it would be like to visit or book a room.
Virtual Reality Doesn’t Replace Real Life: Strapping on a virtual reality headset is a fantastic experience. In fact, it’s so realistic that you almost feel as if you’re visiting a location or taking part in an activity. However, the keyword in this sentence is “almost.” Virtual reality isn’t meant to replace real-life but instead enhance it. One of the best examples is how the travel industry uses virtual reality. For destinations and
Designers are developing clever strategies to improve those aspects, like creating fun and immersive experiences without motion, limiting the number of scene changes, emphasizing forward movement, and implementing visual cues to guide users through an experience.
Kids Aren’t the Interested in VR:
Only
People
While both Generation Z and Millennials are interested in trying virtual reality, Baby Boomers aren’t far behind. According to research by Greenlight VR and Touchstone Research, 64% of Baby Boomers have positive feelings towards virtual reality.
IMPACT on
Consumer Experience Inspiration, engagement, impact – just some of the reasons why the world’s leading brands are creating amazing VR marketing experiences. Consumers are always open to new experiences, particularly engaging ones. In that respect, virtual technology can certainly become a great addition to a brand’s marketing strategy. Virtual reality (VR) on the Internet has been gaining prominence recently because it enables consumers to experience products realistically over the Internet, thereby mitigating the problems associated with consumers’ lack of physical contact with products.
Key factors that may influence the perceptual importance of different aspects of the real scene are a user’s experience, knowledge and skills and the activity that the user is undertaking. A high level of familiarity with the environment (or habituation) may make the user perceive less. An example of this is that driving home always seems to take less time than driving to a new location. Deliberate preconditioning on the other hand, or the intensity and nature of the task being performed, can force the user to attend to stimuli that they would otherwise ignore.
FACTS on
Emotions & Senses Humans perceive the world with all five senses: visuals, audio, smell, touch and taste. Crossmodal effects, i.e. the interaction of the senses, can have a major influence on how environments are being perceived, even to the extent that large amounts of detail of onesense may be ignored when in the presence of other more dominant sensory inputs. Real Virtuality environments (also known as there-realityT M ) are true high-fidelity multi-sensory virtual environments which provide the same perceptual response from viewers as if they were actually present, or “there” in the real scene being portrayed. Virtual Reality systems attempt to deliver high levels of interactivity in realistic looking environments. To maintain such real timerates, VR typically trade off realism. Furthermore VR systems sel-dom include more than two or three senses, and most often only use visuals.
By delivering all five senses, Real Virtuality is ableto exploit crossmodal effects which are a key feature of how hu-mans perceive the real world. When bombarded with all sensory stimuli, humans cannot cope with everything and thus have to se-lect the level of each sense they attend to in order to undertake their current task. This selection, of course, changes over time, but it does mean that at any point in time we have an imperfect view of the world compared to the actual present physics. As inatten-tional blindness clearly shows [Mack and Rock 1998], significant amounts of information in a scene can literally go unnoticed. It is precisely the
imperfections in our perception that can be exploited in order to achieve high-fidelity multi-sensory virtual environments in real time. It is not necessary to compute and deliver full phys-ical accuracy for all senses interactively, rather we only need toachieve at least the threshold levels of each of the weights of thePerception Equation in real time. If this is achieved, then the user will have a perceptually equivalent highfidelity experience without being aware of the quality differences within the virtual scene.
To deliver a perceptually equivalent “real world experience” to the user in a virtual environment, it is necessary to deliver the “appropriate” level of sensory stimulation for each sense. A key feature to increase our ability to achieve Real Virtuality on current computers is to understand the limitations of the human brain, which is simply not able to process all the sensory input we receive every moment of the day. Rather we selectively process these sensory inputs to build up a useful, butnot necessarily accurate perception of our environment.
SIGHT
SOUND
• The human visual system (HVS) receives and processes electromagnetic energy in the form of light waves and is sensitive to the spectrum in the range approximately 400 to 700 nanometers.
• The human hearing system consists of the outer ear, middle ear,and inner ear. The outer ear, or pinna, allows us to locate thedirection of a sound source. The middle ear, transmits acoustic vibrations from the outer ear to the inner ear.
• The arrangement of having one lens per eye gives the user stereo vision. On top of stereo 3D vision you also get 1 to 1 head tracking with virtual reality. This means, you should be able to look around you by physically moving your head and seeing the corresponding image in the virtual world.
• To achieve the illusion of 3D audio, the individual nature of the acoustic effect of a person’s head and shoulders needs to be taken into account andhead tracking used to ensure that when the person moves his/her head the sound moves as well.
SMELL • Studies has shown that the introduction of smell does increase the user’s sense of ”presence” in the virtual environment. The introduction of realistic smells, like the smells of burning rubber and flesh, have been used effectively to treat soldiers returning from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder. • In Virtuality, perceptually accurate smell is delivered directly to the user’s nose. This enables different smells to be added and removed in a manner as the user moves through the space
TOUCH
TASTE
• A human’s sense of feel originates in the dermis layer of our skin. The dermis is filled with nerve endings of many sensory neurons.When a subject is touched by, an object, a force is imposed on the sensors of the skin. Details of this force are thenconveyed to the brain.
• Food simulators are haptic interface to mimic the taste, sound and feeling of chewing real food. A device in the mouth sim-ulated the force of the type of food, a bone vibration microphone provided the sound of biting, while the chemical simulation of taste was achieved via a micro injector.
• Feel in Real Virtuality includes the ability to sense the environment, such as temperature, humidity and wind, and a limited form of motion and touch through a virtual hand, texture of objects, etc.
• Taste in Real Virtuality is also simulated with a device in the mouth (connected to the virtual co-coon via a USB cable to prevent swallowing).
Is the
Virtual Reality
Future of INFLIGHT Entertainment
Inflight virtual reality is being heralded as the next phase of inflight entertainment (IFE), giving passengers the possibility of escaping the confines of their seat. While no one is really complaining about normal 2D entertainment (aside from old seatback systems), the prospect of having more virtual reality experiences onboard aircraft will offer some advantages in the future. Passengers can get an immersive entertainment experience while airlines could theoretically save on the cost of installing full systems in their aircraft. The benefits of this could be big as the airline would also save on fuel due to the decrease in onboard weight relative to the weight of a VR headset. Of course, if this becomes the norm then there are a few challenges to overcome. This might include the added task of hygiene and cleaning of headsets after every flight, as well as showing non-techsavvy passengers how to properly use the devices.
Inflight VR is a company based in Barcelona and Munich that is creating a virtual reality ecosystem for the inflight entertainment industry. According to its website, “Virtual reality, and the idea of creating a space that makes you feel fully immersed in the virtual environment, has been a dream chased by the tech community for decades. We made it our mission bringing this unique technology on board of the aircraft as an entirely new way of inflight entertainment”. - Inflight VR
Inflight VR founder and MD Nikolas Jaeger believes the first carrier that can implement a “thought-through” virtual reality inflight entertainment system “can set a real milestone in modern passenger experience and become a winner in the industry”. Mr Jaeger has commented that VR enhances the onboard experience and also offers a platform to drive ancillary revenues. VR IFE may offer a total replacement, and traditional seat-back screens may disappear, as VR headsets and other equipment “will be cheaper and lighter” as technology advances.
QATAR Airways
About the Brand
Parent Company: Government of Qatar Segment: Passengers preferring comfort and reliablility Target: Corporates / Upper Middle Class / Middle Class Positioning: Qatar Airways international five star airline
is
a
premium
USP: Qatar Airways is a premium flagship airline of the Government Slogan: World’s 5-star airline
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. (al-Qaṭariya), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke network, linking over 150 international destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania from its base at Hamad International Airport, using a fleet of more than 200 aircraft. Qatar Airways employs more than 43,000 people and is also a member of oneworld. The airline has a rich mission statement which is “Excellence in everything we do.”
BRAND Keywords EXCELLENCE
LUXURY
PRIVILEDGE
QATAR Airways
QUALITY
CLASS
COMFORT
QATAR Airways & Virtual
Reality
“We are excited to have the opportunity of working with Qatar Airways. They have continued to put the customer first and remain a game-changer in the aviation industry, proving time and again why they are masters of their craft� - Moritz Engler, CEO of Inflight VR (March 2020) Qatar Airways has made some big moves in the realm of virtual reality in the past year. After teaming up with Rolls-Royce in April 2019 for VR training, the airline is now integrating the technology into its customer experience. As of mid-February, the airline has been offering a VR experience as part of its inflight entertainment offering on a pilot basis. Using VR headsets, passengers have access to fresh content - a completely different inflight entertainment experience. According to Runway Girl Network, this system is exclusively available to Qsuite and business class travelers on flights between Doha to Singapore and London. It is being offered on a pilot basis on these routes only.
The technology Qatar Airways is using comes from a company by the name of Inflight VR. The virtual reality company, based in Munich (Germany), serves in the travel and leisure industry. The company is already doing business with a number of established airlines and other travel companies. These include: 1) Spanish flag-carrier Iberia 2) Turkey-based holiday airline SunExpress 3) Star Alliance (within its lounges) 4) European budget bus company FlixBus In the case of Iberia, Inflight VR provided the airline with approximately 21 devices per aircraft for a six month trial period. Devices were offered on routes flights to New York, Miami and Tel Aviv from their Madrid hub. Available in both business and
economy class, passengers could rent the devices for a small fee. The company reports that a very high customer satisfaction rate with an equally high rating on usability for passengers. In fact, some passengers were using the device for up to five hours.
Installations &
Exhibitions
1
Qatar airways launches customizable Q-suite concept at ITB Berlin
The patented seat, which took two years to complete, enables passengers to create an environment that suits their unique needs. It is the industry’s first-ever double bed available in business class, with privacy panels that stow away, allowing passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room. The airline’s new in-flight dining experience ‘Quisine’ with offer retailstyle tableware, a menu with more choices and bigger portions.
2
Qatar airways launches the world’s FIRST A350-1000 FLIGHT
Qatar Airways’ A350-1000, the world’s most technologically advanced passenger aircraft, landed in New York in October 2018, marking the airline’s first U.S. route to operate commercial flights on the ultramodern aircraft. With the finest caterers in France, 3D light show on the aircraft and on the dinner tables, even veteran Airbus PR staff, no strangers to Hollywood-style glitz at delivery ceremonies to airlines, were heard to gasp.
USER Study
& Research
Qatar Airways being a well-flourished Airline and it is sustained in the maturity stage with no declination seen in near future due to its innovation and sustained market penetration strategy. Qatar Airways focus on delivering its elite services to their focused target audience and retain them by not only meeting their demands and expectation but also by exceeding the expectation and providing them more than the audience demand by their change in product line as well as aesthetics. As there are minimum close competitors who provide similar product specification, however QatarAirways would continue to flourish in new future by their focused strategy
Customer Analysis
Target Market & Products
Qatar Airways has its own target market that has the brand loyalty towards the national carrier. However, Qatar Airways focus mainly on targeting the business class and elite class customers who are willing to pay the sum of money for the service rendered by the organization.
Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, stated, “By offering a variety of entertainment options, we are able to differentiate our passenger service through live entertainment programming while also setting new standards of comfort to ensure we are the airline of choice�. Some of the features of differentiation are:
They focus on attracting the nouveau riche target audience, baby boomers, yuppies as well as frequent economic travellers. By this selective and focused market segmentation Qatar Airways has a strong hold on its position in the brand uniqueness and sustainable business in the competitive environment.
1) Biggest and best business class in the Middle East 2) Interactive Audio, Video on Demand Entertainment System 3) Largest personal TV screens in the Middle East 4) Electronic seat controls 5) In-seat back massage 6) First Middle East airline in First Class with flat beds.
PERSONA Mapping 1 MIDDLE EAST PASSENGERS As Qatar Airways operates predominantly in the Middle East region, people from all over Kuwait, Beirut and Muscat travel onboard. They provide spacious and comfortable seating together with delectable cuisine with a native twist, and exclusive service for their Middle East passengers. Spacious, Stylish & Private
2 BUSINESS CLASS Qatar Airways not just accomodates people belonging to the MiddleEast, but also other passengers who are travelling overseas for Business purposes. Their Business Class has been specially modified with luxury, spaciousness and elegant design with passenger-focused care. Luxury, Comfort & Connect
3 ECONOMY CLASS A huge number of passengers from all over the world travel in the Economy class, where they are provided a comfortable space to relax on their own, with the widest seats in the industry, designed to bring the ultimate in space and comfort. Comfort, Covenience & Space
COMPETITIVE Analysis & Research
The key competitor of Qatar Airways is The Emirates, which is fully owned by the government and it is 24 years Old Corporation, which has a huge networking hub. Even though Qatar Airways is a fast growing airline, it still lacks behind Emirates in terms of networking and connectivity. Qatar Airways has become major competitor for Emirates due to its rapid growth and expansion globally. Qatar Airways has placed its strategic hands into numerous emerging countries in order to create its new network in niche market segment with and upcoming route, which Emirates has blindfolded. Presently Qatar airline practice what is called Going-rate-pricing strategy. The market leader in the middle- east airline industry remains Emirates. Qatar charges its fare based on the price of Emirates which is slightly higher. This is because being the market follower, Qatar does not need to disturb the established market dynamism because it might not be able to compete on the same level with Emirates.
Etihad is Qatar Airways's biggest rival. Etihad was founded in 2003, and is headquartered in Khalifa, Abu Dhabi Emirate. Like Qatar Airways, Etihad also works within the Airlines sector. Etihad generates $7.3B less revenue vs. Qatar Airways.
Emirates is one of Qatar Airways’s top competitors. Emirates’s headquarters is in Dubai, Dubai Emirate, and was founded in 1985. Like Qatar Airways, Emirates also works within the Airlines sector. Emirates generates 225% of Qatar Airways’s revenue.
EasyJet is seen as one of Qatar Airways’s top competitors. easyJet is a Public company that was founded in 1995 in Bedfordshire, England. easyJet operates in the Airlines industry. Compared to Qatar Airways, easyJet has 31,685 fewer employees.
CONCEPT Ideation Safer Air Travel Post COVID-19 As Covid-19 still continues to haunt people of the idea of transportation, travelling air still seems like a major risk to many of them. Based on a recent research, the question that’s been on the mind of every person who wishes to travel by air is as follows:
“ Will Air Travel get any safer after Covid 19? “ The answer is ‘Yes, and here’s how we have researched and analysed the new norm, as to how the air travel experience would change after this pandemic.’ Taking inspirations from a few designers we have come up with simple and minimalistic designs that could become the new norm in the airline industry. The entire concept is based on creating a vitual Exhibition Stand for Qatar Airways, wherein we provide an experience and showcase the modified seats and cabins for the Economy class, the Business class as well as the Luxury lounge for all the passengers. The Exhibition has been designed keeping in mind the space available, so as to create a protective barrier for everyone and at the same time giving each passenger their own space isolated from others, even from people who walk through the aisle. It is made using easyto-sanitize and safe materials with an option to customize the transparency.
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MoodBoard
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CONCEPT Sketch
Basic Exhibition Sketch
PLAN VIEW - WIREFRAME STRUCTURE
SITE MAP
PLAN VIEW LAYOUT
FLOW MAP
3 4
ECONOMY CLASS
BUSINESS CLASS INFORMATION CENTRE
5
2
LUXURY LOUNGE
ENTRY
EXIT
1 Reception area
1 RECEPTION AREA
3 ECONOMY CLASS
The Receptionist welcomes the passengers and guides them through the Covid-19 rules and also clarifies their doubts and enquiries.
This design could be the new norm in the airline industry to allow passengers some degree of isolation and distancing while sitting next to each other.
2 LUXURY LOUNGE This area provides space for passengers to relax or spend some time reading and getting to know more information through brohures, briefs and manuals available from their nearby magazine stands.
5 BUSINESS CLASS These hexagonal cabins designed for the Business class passengers include a high set of luxury products along with generous storage space and ambient mood lighting. These help you have a secluded space as well as connect with other employees through half open spaces.
4 INFORMATION CENTER The panels fixated on the walls, provide information about the exhibition designed for Qatar Airways post Covid-19. They are separated so as to maintain a safe distance among the visitors.
WHATs THE EXPERIENCE?
Home to one of the most innovative and modern fleets in the world, Qatar Airway’s spacious and comfortable seating, delectable cuisine and extensive entertainment options, loaded with maximum pro saftey measures will make flying with them, a truly remarkable as well as a safe and secure experience post Covid-19.
02
PRO SAFETY MEASURES
And now, exclusive to Qatar Airways Business Class, we have designed a new level of innovation.
Sanitization, purified air, Covid essential kit masks, gloves, etc.
03
01
AMBIENCE
Mood Lighting, Purified air, Ample space for walking & storage
PRIVACY & COMFORT
Socially distanced cabins, Mood lights, etc.
04 05
ENDLESS ENTERTAINMENT
Virtual Reality videos, movies, virtual windows
QUALITY SERVICE
Hygenic Cuisines, Timely service, safety measures
MOOD LIGHTING AIR PURIFIER
SANI TIZATION SANI TIZED SPACES
COMFORT + SAFET Y LUXURY
1 AMBIENCE As saftey measures play the key role in this concept, the entire environment will be under supervision every now and then and the customers will feel refreshed and clean all the time. The air purifier keeps purifiying the air along with spreading the essential fragrance of Qatar, along with luxury lighting and thoroughly sanitized spaces.
2 PRO SAFETY MEASURES As personal hygiene also plays an important role, the visitors/passengers will be given a Covid-19 survival kit, which contains all the necessary safety equipments such as hand gloves, masks, hand sanitizers, napkins, nd wet tissues, along with a safety instruction manual. The spaces have been arranged so as to follow social distancing. SANI TIZATION
COVID-19 SURVI VAL K I T
MASK SUPPLY
AIR PURIFIER
SOCIAL DISTANCING
CLEANLINESS
COMF Y RECLINERS SECLUDED CABINS VIRTUAL WINDOWS AMBIENT LIGHTINGS AMPLE STORAGE SPACE
3 MOOD LIGHTING
& PRIVACY
As private cabins become the important part of social distancing, the passengers will enjoy their privacy along with ample amount of storage space, a relaxed sofa-cum lie fat bed, recliners along with ambient mood lighting, to help them change lights according to their moods and emotions. Also, every window shade will be showcasing a virtual cloud experience to amplify the tranquility in the cabins.
ONE TOUCH SERVICE PACK ED FOOD
CLEANLINESS LUXURY DINING
VARIET Y CUISINES COMFORT
4 QUALITY SERVICE Passengers will not have to worry about the on-board servide, as servicing commences in just a single touch of the service button beside their seat. Properly packed food will be served, keeping in mind the health and hygiene along with dietary foods if needed. Socially distanced cabin spaces will be available for proper dining.
5 ENDLESS ENTERTAINMENT Passengers will be given on-board wifi connectivity along with enteratining virtual reality visuals, portraying the Qatar Airways flying experience, travel destinations accompanied with 3d audio and virtual sensors. Endless number of movies, virtual reality games, along with E-magazines are also made available to users. 3D VISUALS VR TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
MAGA ZINES + E-READING ON BOARD WIFI SERVICES
COVID GAMES 3D AUDIO
QATAR AIRWAYS EXHIBITION STAND 3D MODEL
FRONT VIEW
PERSPECTIVE VIEWS
RENDERED EXHIBITION MODEL (FRONT VIEW)
RENDERED PERSPECTIVE VIEWS
RENDERED PERSPECTIVE VIEWS
Have a Safe Journey!