Intelligent airline seats could automatically alert busy cabin crew to nervous, shifty passengers, who might be terrorists or air-ragers.
The seats, being designed by Qinetiq, the UK鈥檚 part-privatised defence lab, could also warn if passengers have been sitting still so long they risk developing deep vein thrombosis.
The seats will contain a thicket of pressure sensors that will relay signals to a central computer to assess the seat occupant鈥檚 behaviour. Are they asleep? Motionless for too long? Jumpy? Qinetiq designer Chris Thorpe says the system could have a display that is only accessible to the cabin crew 鈥� perhaps in the galley 鈥� to warn if a passenger鈥檚 behaviour is out of the ordinary.
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If they have been asleep or sitting still too long, say, a 鈥淒VT Warning鈥� might flash beneath the passenger鈥檚 seat number, and a crew member could prompt the passenger to take a walk around the plane.
And if the seat reveals the passenger may be in a state of high anxiety, the display can discreetly alert the cabin crew. They can then assess whether the passenger presents a risk: are they simply frightened of flying? An air-rager in the making? Or a hijacker about to make their move?
Thorpe says additional sensors and analytical software may one day help the crew to make that judgement, perhaps by monitoring passengers鈥� temperature or skin moisture levels. Qinetiq is 鈥渂ack-validating its technology against real cases鈥� in a bid to assess the feasibility of this, Thorpe says.
The sensing seats are part of a bigger project to make airline cabins more friendly, with lighting that dims when you fall asleep, for instance. It is expected to bear fruit in about a year, but unless you are used to turning left when you board a plane, do not expect to see it soon: first-class passengers will enjoy the benefits first.