Airbus’ new planes will film your every move and track how often you go to the loo
AIRBUS are currently testing sensors and cameras on their new aircraft that will film passengers during a flight.
The plane manufacturer will use the data collected to see how often travellers recline their seats, buy food and even use the toilets.
The technology was revealed at an aviation trade show in Los Angeles, with Ingo Wuggetzer, Airbus’s vice president of cabin marketing, saying it wasn't a concept but "reality".
, the sensors would be placed throughout the cabin, including on overhead bins, seats and toilet door latches as part of the Airbus Connected Experience.
The information captured will then be analysed to reveal how often passengers put their seats back, how often the bathrooms are being used and for how long, as well as what food and how much food is purchased.
There will also be small cameras on board that will be used to track how many people queue for the toilets.
Passengers will have their faces blurred out, however.
The information will then be shared between the cabin crew.
Airbus hope to use the information to save money for airlines.
For example, by tracking the number of people visiting the bathrooms, cabin crew will know how much soap and toilet paper to stock up on instead of overspending.
It could help to understand what food and drink is most commonly served and which to re-order.
Airbus also hope to improve the passenger experience - for example, learning which seats need to be fixed if they don't recline, or whether to include more bathrooms on board if queues are long.
The cameras and sensors are currently being tested on a new A350-900 plane.
Other additions to the plane include a light system for both overheard lockers and seat-belts - going green if available/fastened or red if full/unbuckled.
An Airbus statement said: "Airbus together with its customers are studying use of an on-board camera/sensor system located in the area where passengers typically wait outside the lav. This would, for example, sense how many people are queuing there, at what times, and how quickly or slowly the queue moves.
"The images themselves are blurred-out and would not identify anyone.
"In addition with various IoT sensors operators would benefit from usage trend analysis (eg. how many times the lav door opens and closes; occupancy times etc.), as well as for enabling predictive maintenance. The latter will help ensure 100% reliability and availably of the on-board lav facilities, eg. by enabling airlines to predict in advance that a part would need replacing soon etc., thus avoiding the lav becoming ‘out of order’ during a flight.)
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"The system will help airlines to provide their passengers with the right amount of lav facilities/amenities that they need on board, especially by knowing the level of demand during peaks times. The sensors could also alert cabin crew if somebody has been locked inside the lav for a very long time -- who could be ill or need assistance."
Earlier this year, Cathay Pacific passengers were warned of a new updated privacy policy which would allows them to be tracked and recorded by the airline.
The information would also be stored indefinitely with a spokesperson saying it would be "as long as necessary".