The Center for Process Innovation, a British technology research company, thinks they’ve got the next big step in aviation transportation figured out. Their idea is this: they want to remove the windows from passenger planes and replace them with OLED touch-screens that extend along the plane’s entire length and display the view from outside through cameras mounted on the plane’s exterior. Sounds scary? Only if you are afraid of heights and flying.
According to them, windows are one of the greatest sources of unnecessary weight in passenger planes. Solid walls are stronger and allow the walls to be built thinner as well. The OLED screens that replace the windows would display the view outside and allow passengers to select entertainment and stewardess service.
1 OLED screens along the plane’s length
This possibility should let the passengers get to see the world from above one hundredth percent, not only from the tiny windows. This way the passengers can literally feel like birds and would be able to see the clouds from every side of their seat.
2 What are OLEDs
OLEDs are a combination of advanced materials that give out their own light when activated by electricity and are typically used to make screens and lighting. Unlike LCD and plasma displays, they do not need a back light, meaning that they use less energy and can be much thinner than other displays, while also displaying a higher contrast. Among ambitions for OLEDs involve printing them on sheets or wallpapering them on rooms, effectively turning the walls into lights.
3 But, being able to look through the plane’s wall won’t be the only thing
These touchscreens will show passengers information about their flight and let them order stewardess service. So no longer pressing that coffee button above your head and waiting for the stewardess service to arrive by your service.
4 Hold on! Internet on the plane
Okay, maybe this is even more exciting than everything else, right? (Of course, we are internet addicts!) The screens will also enable internet and media access. So unless you are not interested to stare at the clouds right besides you, you can actually check your e-mail, post some photos of your see-through flight on Facebook and Instagram or chat with your friends while you are thousands of meters in the sky.
5 It’s about the weight
The reason given for taking away the portholes is purely economic. No windows means less weight in the fuselage, making them cheaper to fuel and fly. So, it’s not really about the passengers and their fun during the flight. Of course, that story won’t get good sale as the one with the ultimate flying experience in the see through planes. The advertising images will have travelers so happy in their magic flying cloud they don’t notice the turgid coffee breath of the guy next to them or the constant elbowing by the lady in a parachute tracksuit who insists on getting up and stretching every half hour to ward off deep vein thrombosis.
6 Don’t worry it won’t be crazy expensive
Best of all, it will apparently be cheaper for the customers and manufacturers, more fuel efficient, and emit substantially less CO2. Cheap, slim, windowless and environment-friendly: it almost sounds too good to be true. This revolutionary change could potentially cut down on fuel costs, which of course would lead to cheaper flights — and allow manufacturers to produce wider planes, which, thank god means wider seats and more legroom.
7 What if you sit by the wing? Would you still be able to see without the wing blocking your sight?
Worried a wing might get in the way of your view? Don’t be. Developers say the cameras mounted on the exterior of the aircraft would provide unobstructed 360-degree views of the world zooming past. Passengers would even reportedly be able to set their screen to show a live stream of a different portion of the plane.
Watch the Video below: