Industrial - Bachelors
In partnership with Stralis Aircrafts, Horizon aim to provide futuristic flight experiences to break negative stereotypes associated with flying. Stralis’ mission is to bring hydrogen planes to the regional air travel market, and the passenger seats were designed to fit this context.
While the future of hydrogen aviation is hopeful, there is a constraint that comes with the emerging technology in regard to flight duration. The larger volume of liquid hydrogen fuel means shorter flight times.
To turn this drawback into a unique experience, Stralis envisions their aircraft to fit into the adoption of Regional Air Mobility (RAM), a speculated concept that involves the networking of underutilized regional airports to provide short point-to-point air travel similar to trains and buses. These bring a lot of new opportunities as to what flight experiences could look like. In addition, there is a direct need to reimagine the aeroplane space. Especially for economy seats, overall customer satisfaction has been overwhelmingly negative, with emphasis on crowded spaces and tiringly long processing times.
“Air travel used to be a cool experience, now it’s a grind.”
Bob Criner, Stralis Aircrafts
A conscious decision was made to remove inflight entertainment as the short trips are unsuitable for watching movies. Paired with the growing trend of inflight WiFi services, Horizon offers the opportunity for a better experience using your own devices.
The Dynamic Panel is a multipurpose device that initially acts as a divider with a headrest, providing some comfort and privacy. It can also transform into a magnetic device mount with wireless charging, as well as a tray table, or simply an armrest. The panel is operated with a trigger for a vertical movement like a car window, along with a button that transforms rotation. The thinner and lighter seats allow a more generous configuration that offers deeper legroom for passengers.
Baggage check-in was predicted obsolete in a regional travel scenario where passengers carry smaller luggage for shorter trips. Therefore, the fuselage space below the deck can be repurposed. It is estimated most space be used to store liquid hydrogen fuel, leaving some to integrate an under-seat luggage bin.
The Horizon seat base consists of an elevating platform that extends into the deck. At the press of a button, the seat cushion flips up and the platform raises to collect your luggage. Another press resets its position.
This design eliminates the need for overhead storage, which are harder to access and risk injuries. It also improves boarding time as passengers no longer have to crowd the aisles to stow or collect their baggage.
The following video shows animations for the full range of movements of the dynamic panel as well as the luggage storage interaction.
Kenny came from Fiji to QUT to study Industrial Design after realizing that he wanted to design anything and everything. After three years, he has gauged the limitless scope of the industry and is actively trying to learn new skills.