German airline Lufthansa has joined forces with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to offer Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headsets to the carrier’s business class passengers flying in its newly introduced Allegris onboard product. The headsets are capable of delivering a range of in-flight entertainment options through virtual reality (VR) headsets.
Through a pilot program, Lufthansa business class customers on certain flights can access Quest 3 headsets during the flight from the cabin crew. The complementary devices will be pre-loaded with a variety of custom content, all of which are designed to operate in Travel Mode which has been specially designed for use in flight. According to the carrier, the content will include movies, podcasts, TV shows, travel and wellness advice, and games.
According to a Meta statement, passengers will be able to enjoy the following using the Quest 3 headsets on Lufthansa flights.
- Enjoy an immersive cinema experience with selected movies and TV shows;
- Listen to prominent travel podcasters and see their stories come to life through spatial videos and select 360-degree video content;
- Discover travel destinations from a bird’s eye view with virtual sightseeing previews before arrival;
- Play interactive games such as Connect Four and Chess; and
- Relax with active meditation exercises or enjoy a passive, lean-back experience.
The new VR headsets are expected to be introduced during the summer of 2024 and will feature on Lufthansa’s fleet of Airbus A350-900 aircraft which are gradually being fitted with the airline’s new Allegris business class product – recently previewed by AeroTime here.
Meta introduced its Quest 3 mixed reality headset in September 2023, described by the company at the time as the world’s first “mass-market mixed reality headset”. Quest 3 offers a 30% increase in image resolution and a 40% louder audio range than its predecessor, Quest 2.
Those passengers who have their own Meta Quest 2 or Quest 3 headsets are also permitted to use their headsets onboard Lufthansa flights once they have selected Travel Mode.
Though this will be the first time that an airline will offer access to the Quest 3 during a flight, this is not the first time that Lufthansa has been involved in the introduction of virtual reality technology onboard its services.
In 2017, the airline offered access to an app provided by Google Play via complementary Google headsets to passengers. This app allowed passengers to use their mobile phones to travel to and explore various locations worldwide including Hong Kong or Miami Beach.