Airlines could deploy certain methods to ‘sensehack’ the passenger experience to relieve stress and anxiety when flying, according to a new report created exclusively for the World Travel Catering and Onboard Services Expo (WTCE).
Professor Charles Spence of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the UK’s University of Oxford has released Sensehacking: Passenger Wellbeing in the Air, a report which reveals how intelligent stimulation of passenger senses could optimise inflight wellbeing. These considerations include noise level minimisation, appropriate lighting, and accompanying food with music to bring out flavour.
The report goes on to state the concept of comfort is a “multi-sensory construct”, influenced by a wide range of factors, including everything from noise to vibration, ergonomics, legroom (or lack of it), and even passenger character traits.
Utilising sensehacking
The report points to the potential of biophilia – the connection of the built environment to direct and indirect nature – in helping to soothe passengers. Biophilic design has already made its way into a number of airports, such as green spaces at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, and is incorporated into airport lounges, such as at Venice airport currently.
“The post-pandemic focus on customer wellbeing is nowhere more obvious than whilst travelling. While constant disinfecting and face masks are thankfully a thing of the past, airlines are now shifting their attention to other means of enhancing passenger inflight wellbeing via ‘sensehacking’ – using sensory stimulation to help improve social, cognitive and emotional wellbeing during journeys,” notes the report.
The report further suggests inflight nature-themed videos or nature sounds could have a soothing effect, helping to relieve anxiety and improve onboard sleep quality. Thermal comfort is also cited as “another tricky issue” owing to differing preferences between men and women.
“In understanding that something needs to be done to manage the stress increasingly associated with air travel, it may be helpful to consider key inflight passenger activities: eating and drinking, and, on longer flights, sleeping, and how the multisensory atmosphere on board most planes is simply not conducive to these activities, given the range of physical, physiological and psychological considerations,” it adds.
De-noising air travel
The report highlights how both aircraft noise and visual cues can be used to modulate comfort levels: “Ambient temperature (in a simulated airplane cabin) was felt to be warmer under yellow lighting than under blue. Air quality was also perceived as higher, and those taking part in the study felt more alert when exposed to blue light.
Catering to passenger needs
“There appears to be increasing awareness of, and interest in, eating in the air as a means of supporting wellbeing… It’s a fact that food and drink tastes different in the air, but it’s also likely that passengers’ low expectations also play a role. Put differently, airline food likely isn’t always satisfactory because passengers don’t expect it to be.”
Given the known detrimental effects of noise on taste there are innovative ways of enhancing the flavour of airline food. “In a project with British Airways, we selected music to complement the food – offering an element of ‘sonic seasoning’, with tinkling high-pitched tracks to bring out sweetness, and The Proclaimers to bring out the authenticity of a Scottish fish dish.”
Similar testing was also conducted in 2017, when Finnair brought out a menu of ‘sonic seasonings’, inviting passengers to enhance the richness of, say, their meatballs by eating along to a pre-recorded track of a crackling fire played through headphones.
Spence concluded, “The airline and airport industries clearly understand the need for stress-soothing service strategies and that the multisensory atmosphere while flying is not conducive to promoting inflight passenger wellbeing,” adding, “However, despite this understanding, none of the airlines currently appear to own what might be described as the ‘wellbeing in the skies’ space.”
Food for thought
WTCE event director, Polly Magraw, added: “This report certainly gives airlines plenty to think about, with innovative suggestions around novel ways of making flying more enjoyable for passengers, comments WTCE event director, Polly Magraw. “While not all airlines could adopt all measures, drawing on some of them – particularly for long-haul flights – could be an industry game-changer.”
Click here for the full report and sensehacking paper, including research references.
