Aircraft

Flying-high in 2050: The Airbus Concept Cabin

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The Airbus Concept Cabin points to the future of air travel
Airbus engineers have created a Concept Cabin which completes the previous transparent plane concept
The Airbus Concept Cabin
The Airbus Concept Cabin points to the future of air travel
The Airbus Concept Cabin
The Airbus Concept Cabin
The Airbus Concept Cabin
The Airbus Concept Cabin
View gallery - 7 images

Airbus engineers have outlined their vision of what passengers could expect from air travel circa 2050 - and it sounds like a lot more fun than today's cattle class experience. The Airbus Concept Cabin focuses on high levels of customization tailored to suit individual needs including auto-morphing seats and personalized entertainment. Passengers' body heat would also be harvested via the use of smart materials that integrate the electrical system and do away with the need for conventional wires.

The Concept Cabin is an extension of the company's future plane design first canvassed last year. The transparent plane design would be lightweight, bird-bone-like structure, covered by bionic skin membranes.

The Airbus Concept Cabin

Once on-board, a passenger would simply touch the wall to be identified by the plane's "neural network" which would then track the person and enable the auto-morphing seats, personalized digital access and automatic responses to personal needs.

Instead of traditional cabin classes, Airbus sees the aircraft interior as being divided into a number of zones. The "Vitalizing Zone" would cater for relaxation and well-being with massage and acupressure-enabled seats, antioxidant enriched air, mood lighting and a panoramic view of the sky. There would also be a "Smart Tech Zone" and an "Interactive Zone" which would imitate any possible social scene, meaning passengers could arrange a virtual business meeting, play a game of virtual golf, go virtual shopping, or read a bedtime story for their kids back at home.

The cabin would also be 100 percent recyclable and feature self-cleaning materials made from plant fibers.

"Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment," says Charles Champion, Airbus Executive Vice President Engineering.

The Airbus Concept Cabin

The company says some of the Concept Cabin technologies are already in the development phase and the ideas presented in the concept will influence future designs.

The Airbus Concept Cabin project is to be showcased during the up-coming 49th International Paris Air Show (20 - 26 June, 2011) in the form of a 360-degree planetarium movie - we'll be sure to stop by for a closer look.

Airbus provides an overview of the 2050 plane in the following video:

View gallery - 7 images
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12 comments
bdsterne
Isn\'t radiation much higher at those altitudes? I wonder if there\'s a difference in radiation exposure between the materials.
Foxy1968
Very dissapointing. Why are we still even considdering such a thing when maglev trains running in a vacume would give us so much more.

Reduced exposure to cosmic radiation, zero heat released into the atmousphere (unlike jet engines), no turbulence, system failure less likely to result in every one on board dying, cheaper to run and maintain as there are no moving parts. Environmentally friendly. Capable of achieving the maximum acceleration acceptable on commercial travel that humans would be comfortable with.

What is wrong with the people on this plannet. Wake up would you.
Bill Bennett
Foxy, most people on this planet are still wasting their life praying to Bronze age magic sky gods that do not exist,, ahh religion, poison and social control for the morons who suck it up
Wesley Bruce
Looks good but would mobile seat stay in place in a crash landing? I would expect facing the seats backwards, with Utility fog harnesses and pop-up crash cells. That wont be hard in 2050. The biggest catch will be passenger comfort. There\'s nothing to grab if its bumpy. Not every one wants to face right or sleep at once and the bar/ rec-room would be a hazard in turbulence. It kind of complicates carry on luggage if you\'ve got to leave your seat and queue at the luggage bot to get your stuff.
Wesley Bruce
bdsterne the materials used to day don\'t stop it and aren\'t effected by it. Future materials should handle the radiation. Satellites are subjected to greater radiation fluxes and electronics is adapting.
Wesley Bruce
Foxy1968 Re \'maglev trains running in a vacume\' Who\'s going to build the trillion dollar vacuum tubes? That\'s the challenge for vacuum maglev. No incremental deployment options. Its not viable for short hall travel so its trapped as a \'too big to do project\'.
Andy O'Mahoney
Surely the internet along with increasing virtual reality simulation and immersion(to the point of BEING in places) will lead to a world that doesn\'t have to travel physically with our bodies? It\'s the trend I\'m seeing
Gadgeteer
Wesley Bruce is correct that evacuated tubes would be much too expensive for an extensive rail network. But there are other slightly slower options for a 21st century continental railroad that nobody in this country seems to be interested in. It doesn\'t help that the US has become an entire nation of NIMBYists who obstruct progress more often than not. No wonder China is cleaning our clocks.
Nick Rowney
Why is that plane flying at that mountain, oh I see it is a geography lesson. 2050? the world council will NOT allow planes, way to polluting in fact Airbus should look at getting into telekinesis . Its the future of travel baby
interested kiwi
What\'s with the \"heat harvesting seats\"? That\'ll just make them way too cold! I think I\'ll have a heated seat thank you very much.