[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5978\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EVirtual reality to ease the pain of long-haul flights\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFew people enjoy long-haul flights with their restricted space and close proximity to strangers. Add to that turbulence and an unsettled baby \u2013 yours or someone else\u2019s \u2013 and it\u2019s a pretty uncomfortable experience. The option of using virtual reality technology to fool ourselves into believing we are somewhere better would attract most of us.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow there is scientific evidence to prove it really does help. Researchers investigating whether virtual reality can help improve passengers\u2019 experiences say people feel as if they are somewhere more spacious, and that time passed more quickly. Scientists tested the concept outside the lab for the first time in March 2014 on a long-haul flight with headsets used on smartphones.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018People have really embraced our ideas, and seeing the trends in technology, I believe that virtual reality in future planes is a real possibility,\u2019 said Dr Mirabelle D\u2019Cruz, coordinator of the EU-funded VR-Hyperspace project, which is developing virtual reality for use in aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, when Dr D\u2019Cruz and her team began the three-year project in 2011, they thought assessing how virtual reality can improve comfort was a \u2018crazy idea\u2019. There were not many usable consumer headsets available at that time, but there has since been a boom in headset technology.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018What we need now is for 3D content providers to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Mirabelle D\u2019Cruz, VR-Hyperspace coordinator \u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd the speed of development of headset technology looks set to accelerate, especially now Facebook\u2019s purchase of virtual reality headset maker Oculus announced in March this year shows it is worth investing in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs well as using the latest headset technology to test their ideas, partners on the EU-funded VR-Hyperspace project are also investigating whether incorporating virtual reality technology into the fabric of the aircraft itself can make us more comfortable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey have created lab-based mock-ups of the seating arrangements in an aeroplane. In these set-ups, television monitors are on the backs of seats and on the floor, and scenes are projected onto the aircraft walls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018These large-scale displays will require a lot of work on the infrastructure of the plane, although it could be brought out before 2050,\u2019 said Dr D\u2019Cruz.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESee-through mode\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a mock-up produced by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart, Germany, the plane\u2019s shell and the seats in front can be switched into a \u2018see-though mode\u2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn this mode, changing aerial views of a beautiful landscape are displayed onto television monitors on the seats and floors and projected onto the cabin\u2019s walls. These, combined with a head-tracking system, can alter passengers\u2019 body awareness and give them a sense of flying around a landscape.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used the cabin mock-ups to take volunteer passengers on a pretend flight, who then rated their levels of comfort in a questionnaire. The team focussed on two particularly uncomfortable situations: a crying baby and a restricted space in which the seat in front touches your knees.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarly results indicate that space restrictions are much easier to overcome than a crying baby. \u2018A crying baby on a beautiful tropical island is still a crying baby,\u2019 said Dr D\u2019Cruz.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPreviously virtual reality technology was only applied to aviation for pilot training and carrier design purposes. The researchers say their work has now paved the way for European companies to take advantage of this new market in in-flight entertainment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We\u2019ve expanded the potential of virtual reality in the aviation sector in an area never considered before,\u2019 said Dr D\u2019Cruz. \u2018What we need now is for 3D content providers to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey emphasise that their work is about giving people choice: to be in the plane or somewhere else. Headsets of the future will not necessarily look like they do now, and in 20 or 30 years we could be wearing glasses to augment reality all the time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018People are already choosing to opt out of the plane environment, immersing themselves on their tablet or smartphone with their headphones and wearables are not unusual,\u2019 said Dr D\u2019Cruz. \u2018So our future vision is not inconceivable.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is working on a series of recommendations for carrier companies, indicating what needs to be done to roll out this technology. \u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EVirtual reality\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EVirtual reality, or VR for short, is a technology that creates computer-simulated environments which can be explored by the person interacting with them. The environment usually includes 3D images and a form of motion capture that allows the computer to trace the movements and reactions of the viewer and adapt the simulation accordingly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe term \u2018virtual reality\u2019 goes back to Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in the field who coined the term in 1987. However, people began trying to create artificial environments much earlier, for example with 360-degree panorama murals in the 19\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E century. The first head-mounted display connected to a computer was created in the 1960s by computer scientist Ivan Sutherland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInitially, virtual reality remained largely outside the public eye and was used mainly in stationary settings like flight simulators. With the increasing performance of computers and the spread of wearable devices, however, the full potential of virtual reality is starting to emerge. The partnership announced in March this year between Facebook and Oculus VR, a company that develops virtual reality headsets for immersive gaming, may be a hint of what the future holds.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-ewgan48mrjuhbns1mgrmgaulbwkyio87-r3thw6y35y\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-EWGan48mRjUhBNS1mgrMGauLBWKyio87-r3thw6Y35Y\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]