To find out more about passengers' moods throughout a long-haul flight, British Airways recently conducted an amazing, to say the least, experiment. On 24th., June, on one of its routes between London and New York, four volunteer passengers tested the "Happiness blanket'', made from a high-tech fabric which changes colour depending on each passenger's state of mind : to red, when anxious or stressed, or blue when relaxed.
How does such a system work ? In fact, a head band, worn by the passengers, measures the tiny electrical changes in neurons in the brain - brain waves in more colloquial terms. Every second, via Bluetooth, this information is then transmitted to optical fibres woven into the blanket.
Thanks to this experiment, a world first, the British company intends to determine the different moments of pleasure, or otherwise, that passengers experience during a flight, thus shedding light on their feelings in order to improve certain aspects of the airline's on-board services such as : meal schedules, type of food served, cabin lighting, or again the type of films on offer.
With the intention of helping passengers to relax even more, British Airways has also just launched a "slow" in-flight television programme, incorporating certain hypnotic aspects, of a seven-hour train journey through Norway. In the pursuit of its customers happiness and wellbeing, the company is certainly on the right track.
