It seems that every week a new travel app is released, each with its own specialty when it comes to assisting travelers with their trips. The latest includes that airlines want to help passengers with jet lag.
Etihad Airways and Panasonic Avionics Corporation are partnering to develop a series of wellness solutions for air travel — and that includes finding a fix for jet lag. Etihad will be the first airline to test Panasonic’s Jet Lag Advisor, which will be integrated into the airline’s passenger app.
Developed through a collaboration with a human data analytics platform, Detalytics, the Jet Lag Advisor considers various factors including chronotype (your habitual sleep pattern in any 24-hour period), general circadian rhythms, your height, weight, the purpose of your trip, and other travel information like the flight times, routes and regions. Then, it uses its artificial intelligence engine to calculate a personalized in-flight plan of activities and environmental settings which can help avoid jet lag.
For example, at different stages of flight, the Jet Lag Advisor will send push notifications to stay hydrated, recommend meals that could help you feel better, and recommend that you wind things down, turn down the lights, and listen to calming music or light entertainment.
The app works from pre-flight to post-flight, so that it can consider factors that add up over time, and works for passengers making connecting flights with the airline.
On the plane, the app’s bar shows flight progress and highlights what you should be doing at that stage of the journey so that you land feeling rested. The app also offers a “Personal Jet Lag Impact Score,” which flyers can use to predict the likelihood that they will feel jet lag on a particular flight.
As Panasonic explains, “Passengers will receive a combination of generic route-based and personalized ‘jet lag impact scores’ which gives them a summary of how severe jet lag may be on that route in general and their own travel specifically, while the personalized jet lag plan incorporates the pre-flight, flight and post-flight phases, and provides a schedule of different recommendations and tips for specific times in each phase on what to do to reduce jet lag, such as sleeping, exposure to light, exercise, hydration, and the type of food to consume.”
Panasonic has been working on other wellness solutions like integrating the popular app Calm into their in-flight entertainment suite with app features like Breathing & Meditation, stress-reducing Nature Scenes, relaxing Sounds & Music, and audio Sleep Stories. Panasonic also plans to add the myNoise collection of soundscapes for relaxation, sleep, focus, and enjoyment with specific recommendations based on the phases of flight planned activities, and individual jet lag schedule.
Like other wellness apps, Panasonic and Etihad Airways are careful to mention that the Jet Lag Advisor isn’t offering any medical advice. It’s only a helpful guide to avoid common pitfalls that can leave passengers feeling jet-lagged on arrival. Even so, it is a smart use of tech to tackle a common travel complaint.
Source: Travel + Leisure
By Marisa Garcia