Alaska Airlines Has a New Perk: Virtual Reality

Detest making small talk when you're on an airplane? Alaska Airlines is trialing a new perk that can help you shut out the real globe: virtual reality.

First-form passengers onboard 10 flights between Boston and Seattle and Boston and San Diego volition have the opportunity to try a new virtual reality headset from French in-flight entertainment company SkyLights and provide feedback most the experience, Alaska Airlines announced Monday.

The trial kicked off on Lord's day, Sept. 23 and runs through Thursday, Sept. 27.

Forget trying to pay attending to that minor seatback monitor as jet engines and crying babies bellow in the background. "Wearing the headset is comparable to having a personal pic screen in front of you lot," the airline said. "When paired with noise-cancelling headphones, it's easy to experience similar you lot're at the movie theatre instead of flying."

Passengers participating in the trial tin choose from a selection of 2D and 3D movies, including Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Set up Actor One in 3D, and Ferdinand. There's also several "360-degree immersive experiences that let guests explore different worlds past just slowly moving their head around," Alaska Airlines said.

Alaska said information technology'south now the offset airline in North America to pilot virtual reality technology.

David Scotland, manager of Inflight Amusement and Connectivity, chosen SkyLights' Allosky device the "smallest, lightest, and most stylish VR headset in the inflight amusement marketplace."

"These trials volition aid u.s. understand how comfortable our guests are using the applied science, if they prefer it to our current offerings, and let our flying attendants share feedback about its impact to our inflight service flow," Scotland said in a statement. "We've fabricated no official commitments to pursuing VR long-term but this trial will help usa shape our hereafter strategy."

About Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home products. Teaching yoga for nearly ten years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected health products including fitness trackers, eye rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength training machines, treadmills, and more. Angela too tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, merely to name a few.