On Tuesday, posh London travelers flying out of Heathrow might find themselves looking into the geeky future of customer service: Virgin Atlantic concierge staff greeting them with Google Glass.
No longer will monied travelers have to wait as an airline employee types into a computer, looking for updates on their flight to Barbados. Instead, they will get the information from someone wearing a red jacket, speaking into their glasses.
Sadly, those who aren’t “Upper Class passengers” will be greeted by Virgin employees using non-wearable computers, as in olden days. But for the crème de la crème, it’s a whole new world.
“From the minute Upper Class passengers step out of their chauffeured limousine at Heathrow’s T3 and are greeted by name, Virgin Atlantic staff wearing the technology will start the check-in process,” Virgin Atlantic said in a press release. “At the same time, staff will be able to update passengers on their latest flight information, weather and local events at their destination and translate any foreign language information.”
The six-week trial period will utilize the Sony SmartWatch 2 as well as Google Glass. In the future, Virgin Atlantic said the technology could be used to recognize their customers’ “dietary and refreshment preferences,” meaning your flight attendant could have your rum-and-Coke ready before you even ask for it.
Hopefully some upper-class passengers will film the entire process with their Google Glass Titanium collection frames, recently unveiled as the stylish alternative to Google's original wearable computer. So far, the trial is limited to Virgin Atlantic. We can only hope it expands to Virgin Galactic, because luxury and convienience shouldn't be limited by gravity.
