Boeing is very sensitive about passengers comfort while traveling in their airplanes. Accordingly, the company keeps innovating solutions to make the travel more comfortable and enjoyable. This includes solutions like ending passengers wild goose chase to locate empty cabins, to providing location-based services onboard aircraft, and converting interior surfaces of airplanes into projection screens.
A recent patent application for Boeing indicates that they are reinventing windows of aircrafts.
Window seats in aircrafts are in demand as most passengers like to see outside of the aircraft during the duration of a flight. However, the windows in the cabins are typically limited in size because of structural constraints. The small size of cabins windows limits visibility outside of the aircraft to passengers seated in window seats.
Boeing plans to modify existing windows and convert them into wide panoramic windows that are designed to increase the viewing area outside of a cabin.
The patented system includes multiple window plugs that fit within existing windows of an aircraft. Each plug includes a camera, which is positioned to capture video exterior to the aircraft. The video captured by the cameras is displayed on displays installed on interior walls of the cabin (for example, over the existing windows).
Further, passengers are provided with control devices that allow the passengers to control the operation of the displays and cameras. For example, a passenger can control zoom and pan function of a camera and to change the video being displayed on a corresponding display.
The displays can also be used to display movies in VIP aircraft and premium class cabins.
Publication number: US 20160325836
Patent Title: Airplane Cabin Panoramic View System
Publication date: 10 Nov 2016
Filing date: 7 May 2015
Inventors: Teo; David
Original Assignee: The Boeing Company
