Despite their constrained size, cabins are complex environments. Since aircraft cabins are essentially a small, pressurized bubble of safety and comfort hurtling through the sky at hundreds of miles per hour, they, by necessity, require a lot of features and capabilities.
Passengers expect to have a safe and successful trip to their destination. The exceptional record of the aviation industry in recent decades has led many flyers to take air travel safety and logistics for granted. It’s rare to see online reviews from travelers who complain about every aspect of their journey but still give the carrier five stars because they arrived safely at their destination.
Instead, passengers tend to focus on things like comfort, entertainment, their ability to be productive midflight and amenities like food and drinks. Those aspects of air travel, which are generally dependent on the quality of the cabin and the passenger experience the crew can provide, are often the defining features of a journey.
What carriers do get or lose points for are things like inflight service, IFEC options, temperature control, seat comfort, sound and display quality, lighting and various inflight features.
Not every passenger has the same standards or expectations, but crews need to be able to meet or exceed those expectations on every flight.
What Does That Have to Do With Touchscreen Controllers?
In some respects, the passenger experience has everything to do with touchscreen controllers, or at least the controller’s capabilities to precisely adjust the cabin environment to provide the right passenger experience.
Rosen Aviation’s reliable touch control units allow for easy management of the entire cabin environment. It can be used to adjust reading and table lights, window shades or any other cabin functions directly linked to the touch control unit.
The 4.7” touchscreen features edge-to-edge glass for a sleek and unobtrusive mounted appearance. It can connect to a cabin’s many systems through Ethernet or RS232 control. It’s also an entirely independent unit that doesn’t require any additional cooling fans.
The Future of Cabin Controls Aren’t Necessarily Touchscreens
Touchscreen controls will continue to be relevant in the upcoming years, but its position as the dominant cabin control technology may be soon ending thanks to Rosen Aviation’s newest innovation – holographic controls.
Holographic keyboards and menus have the potential to not only reduce the number of surface touchpoints inside cabins, but also provide more flexibility in terms of crew and passenger control of their environment.
Although modern touchscreens are relatively clean and mostly unobtrusive, they’re still a physical presence. Holographic controls aren’t permanent fixtures that can get dirty or broken, rather they’re projected onto surfaces. This also provides additional flexibility in terms of where those controls can be found and allows for more rational design of cabin features and their respective controls.
Holographic cabin controls may give passengers greater control over their own cabin experience while also enhancing the breadth of abilities available to flight crews.
Touchless technologies, like the holographic controls developed by Rosen Aviation, are likely to become more sought after in the wake of COVID-19. Although some aspects of life are returning to normal, many passengers are still worried about flying in the post-pandemic era. Holographic controls don’t make the air cleaner, but they can reduce the number of people who touch the same controls and make disinfecting cabin surfaces faster, easier and safer.
Any technologies that help passengers feel safer when they board an aircraft are likely going to have both short-term and long-term benefits.
Learn About Your Cabin Control Options
Rosen Aviation is always striving to develop cabin technologies that improve the passenger experience while helping crews maintain cabin safety. Our traditional touchscreen solutions offer robust capabilities that make flying more convenient and customizable for both flight attendants and passengers.
If you’d like to learn more about out touchscreen controls or our recently developed holographic control solutions, get in touch with our team by calling 888-668-4955.