Last year, Meta announced that it would partner with German airline Lufthansa to deliver the Quest 3 headset to passengers. Now, after its apparent success, the company hopes to expand its in-flight XR entertainment program to more airlines.
Meta first released its much-awaited travel mode last year, using anyone from Quest 2 or above to offset the inconsistency between the user and the plane itself.
Last June Meta releases a pilot program (no pun) built on work in travel mode, bringing passengers to Flight 3, selected for Suite A Quest 3 of Lufthansa Allegris Business Class.
Mehta said the Lufthansa program has been extremely successful, offering Quest 3 in-flight entertainment to nearly 4,000 travelers, and hopes to expand to more airlines in the near future.
“This activation marks a pivotal moment in the development of travel modes and immersive services,” says Sarah Malkin’s metadirector of entertainment content, reality lab. “We are currently focusing on expanding this product to more airlines and optimizing our product suite.”
The company has not specifically stated which airline it is aiming to work with, but we can be certain it will usually be a business/first class feature, including perks such as lay flat sheets, noise-canceling headphones, gourmet cuisine and premium alcohol.
This is not the first time an airline has used its XR headset as a special perk. In 2015, Australian airline Qantas was one of the first to test complementary access to the Samsung Gear VR as entertainment in flight for first-class passengers. Other airlines employing the VR headset pilot program included Air France, Iberia, British Airways and Singapore Airlines.
