Immersive inflight entertainment (IFE) technology provider, SkyLights, has made two announcements this week. The first is a merger with Allomind, a manufacturer of cinematic VR headsets, with the aim of bringing high-end cinematic VR entertainment to the travel industry and other markets. The new entity will operate under the name SkyLights Inc and will combine Allomind’s expertise in nanotechnology, optics and consumer products with SkyLights’ premium content partnerships, proprietary software and commercial experience in the airline market.
The partnership between SkyLights and Allomind started last year when they worked together to develop and launch Allosky, a lightweight standalone Cinematic VR system. Having successfully launched Allosky in June 2018, SkyLights has turned its focus to rapid commercial expansion around the globe with airlines and also across several other travel industry verticals such as airport lounges, high-speed trains, hotels and cruise ships.
“In consolidating our expertise, we are now in the advantageous position to grow VR as inflight entertainment and pursue our shared vision of enabling anyone to sit back and enjoy an immersive cinematic experience on demand. Essentially, we have come together to create the ultimate immersive media platform, 30,000ft in the air”, said David Dicko, CEO of SkyLights.
Dicko, who also has experience as a pilot and executive with Air France, will lead the new organization . Allomind’s co-founder and CEO, Abhijit Limaye, will be the new company’s chief product and technology officer, having previously worked at Amazon Devices’ Lab126 on products such as Amazon Kindle and Amazon Echo Dot. The company will operate with offices in Silicon Valley, Paris and Toulouse.
In other SkyLights news, the company has announced a partnership with StoryUP XR, makers of the Healium meditation channel, to explore the channel’s potential to enhance passenger wellness on long-haul flights. The Healium immersive media channel is designed to combat stress using virtual and augmented reality in conjunction with user biometrics. It offers interactive VR mindfulness content driven by the user’s brain and heart activity, which are monitored by a wireless headband or other wearables.
With passenger wellbeing an important consideration in the airline customer journey, SkyLights and StoryUP XR have started working towards integrating Healium onto SkyLights’ Allosky headsets. As a first step, Healium’s content has been loaded onto the device.
