Several top academics and futurists collaborated to create the easyJet 2070: The Future Travel Report, including Professor Birgitte Andersen of Birkbeck, University of London and CEO of Big Innovation Centre, Dr. Melissa Sterry, design scientist and complex systems theorist, well-known futurists Shivvy Jervis and Dr. Patrick Dixon, Director of Transport Systems at Cranfield University, Professor Graham Braithwaite, and Principal for aerospace and defence and sustainable aviation at consultancy Roland Berger.
3D printed buffet food, heartbeat passports and time travelling holiday experiences; a new report shows the forecasts for how we will travel and enjoy our holidays in 50 years’ time.
The ground-breaking study, commissioned by airline easyJet, predicts innovations in airport journeys, air travel, accommodation, and holiday experiences.
Highlights from the easyJet 2070: The Future Travel Report include:
Technology advancements will revolutionize the experience of going to the airport and flying:
For travelers to breeze through their airport, biometric and heartbeat passports will take the place of conventional passports. Everybody has a different cardiac identity, just like each person’s fingerprints and retina. Similar to how modern finger-print scanning technology works, passenger heartbeat signatures and other biometric information will be recorded on a worldwide database.
Smart materials that can adapt to a passenger’s body shape, height, weight, and temperature will become standard in ergonomic and biomimetic sensory aircraft seats, offering the most individualized level of comfort during flight.
85% of passengers will arrive at airports by e-VTOLs from their homes to the terminal, making the trip quicker and more convenient than ever before. Inflight entertainment will beamed directly in front of passengers’ eyes, via optoelectronic devices, eliminating the need for onboard screens or downloading movies before you fly.
We will observe substantial improvements in the international lodging experience as technology develops:
Travelers will be able to 3D print whatever they want to consume for breakfast, lunch, or supper while reducing food waste thanks to 3D printed hotel buffet food.
All hotel rooms will be smart rooms with beds already pre-made to exactly desired firmness, ambient temperatures, and favorite music playing based on preferences you select in advance of booking the vacation. Subterranean hotels built into the fabric of the earth that are extremely energy efficient and at one with the environment.
Visitors will be accompanied by a holographic personal travel concierge who will provide current destination information and help throughout their stay.
Travelers can print the clothing they need in their hotel rooms, customized to their ideal fit and style, and recycle the materials for the next visitor to enjoy. This will eliminate the need for suitcases and fast holiday fashion.
Hotels that run on human power and derive their energy from the footfall of their patrons
Travelers will have access to destination-specific innovations in encounters and activities:
‘Time-travelling’ Holiday experiences: Travelers of the future will be able to vacation in the past by donning haptic suits at historical sites, allowing them to immerse themselves in authentic historical settings while marveling at ancient wonders like the Colossus of Rhodes or cheering among the spectators at the first Olympic Games in Ancient Greece.
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Underwater “sea-faris” are aquatic excursions for visitors aboard submarines where they can explore the marine life in underwater marine parks.
On vacation, we will be able to speak the local tongue thanks to in-ear devices that translate the language in real time.
Water sports will be elevated to a whole new level with the introduction of e-foiling, cable skiing, and flyboarding as standard rentals along the shoreline.
The full study with the forecasts from the experts is available here.