Panasonic Avionics is adding a new integrated moving map and data analytics platform to its NEXT-supported suite of in-flight entertainment and connectivity solutions.

Panasonic avionics

Andrew Mohr says personalisation is the future of IFE

BillyPix

The Arc in-flight map platform can be integrated with Panasonic’s Loyalty personalisation programme, Marketplace e-commerce solution and its new Insights data analytics service to provide a 3D immersive map experience that is tailored to individual flights and passengers.

It will also tie in with Panasonic’s Wellness solution to provide recommendations to minimise the effects of jetlag by calculating time zones crossed, and arrival and departure times, without the need to manually enter data.

The map, which is designed and built by Tactel in Sweden, will enter service in the first quarter of 2020 with an as-yet unnamed airline customer.

“This is the first truly personalised map application,” said Panasonic head of innovation Andrew Mohr at a media briefing during the show. The technical hurdles of the map’s development are “largely over” and the work over the next few months will focus on building content so that detailed descriptions of regions are available as the aircraft flies over them.

Arc will be available across all in-flight displays including seatback, overhead, handset, and within mobile apps and web portals.

Panasonic is working with FlightAware to enable map users to also watch moving maps of other aircraft so they can, for instance, monitor the progress of a loved one’s flight while in the air.

In addition to unveiling Arc, Panasonic announced its new cloud-based Insights data analytics platform, which harvests onboard and third-party data from touchpoints including IFE, connectivity, social media, location and weather monitors. It then analyses the data in real time to provide airlines with personalised insights into who is travelling with them, allowing carriers to provide a more personal in-flight experience and make more targeted in-flight sales. Panasonic is working with data analytics specialist Black Swan on this project.

Mohr describes personalisation as “a step change for IFE”, and Panasonic believes its “state-of-the-art” moving map and data analytics platform will enable it to leverage the advantages of making the in-flight experience more personal.

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Source: Flight Daily News