Apr

Flights of Fancy

by Joyce McGreevy on April 1, 2019

In the early days of aviation, airlines had to transport passengers one at a time by hand.

Travel Innovations Soar Every April

Every year on this day, the travel industry announces innovations that push the boundaries of creative problem solving and take air travel to new heights. Here are airline upgrades that made aviation news in Aprils past.

A figure with suitcase at an airport evokes the need for aviation innovations and creative problem solving. [Image public domain]

Today more people than ever are able to experience being stuck at airports.

Travel Technology Takes Flight

In April 2017, Emirates Airline delivered a game changer: plans for the world’s largest commercial aircraft. The April 1 ad campaign went viral as Emirates debuted the Triple Decker APR001, the first jet in history to feature an onboard swimming pool, park, and gym. See video!

Not to be outdone, Virgin Airlines rolls out news-generating inventions with such consistency that by March 31 at 11:59pm aviation buffs are poised for updates.

So it was on April 1, 2013 when Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson announced “the technology required to produce the world’s first glass-bottomed plane.” This technological innovation, which coincided with the expansion of Virgin Atlantic Airways domestic service within Great Britain promised “an unrivalled view of Scotland.”

A crowded commercial airline interior evokes the need for aviation innovations and creative problem solving. [Image public domain]

Starting today, many airlines will offer games like “Musical Chairs” and “Twister.”

Clear Leadership

While public reaction was tempered, skeptics reflected a more fractured view: Would Virgin Airlines’ upgrades shutter the competition? Could engineers hold up their end of Branson’s glass bottom? Or in shattering the glass ceiling of aviation technology, had their creativity hit a breaking point?

Oh, I see: While some cheered the First Glass Service, others saw a glass plane half empty.

Branson responded with transparency, revealing April after April that he would always take great panes to floor his passengers. Subsequent upgrades included:

In-flight Spin Classes, offering passengers frequent flyer points for every kilometer cycled. “The harder you spin, the more you’ll grin,” commented a spokesperson known to be a big wheel.
The Dreambird 1417: Its high-tech flexible wings created a flapping motion that moved the plane forward and generated electrical power for the cabin.

A food truck and commercial airplane on a runway remind the author of the need for aviation innovations and creative problem solving. [Image public domain]

As of April 1, McGreevy’s Law will require airline meals to contain up to 10% actual food.

Dogging the Competition

On April 1, 2017, Branson unleashed his most popular airline upgrade yet, the Canine Crew: Video

Few airlines had the pedigree to compete. But one Canadian carrier proved it’s never too late to learn new tricks. Determined to get a leg up, WestJet uncaged its Furry Family policy: Video.

People playing with water by an airplane remind the author of aviation traditions and innovation. [Image public domain]

Now economy passengers can enjoy free post-flight spa treatments.

Taking Care of Business

Other airlines refused to roll over and play dead.

Southwest Airlines made a splash with “Cash Lav,” an onboard game show that turned a visit to the smallest room into a chance to win big bucks. The series, which aired 01/04/16, yanked chains nationwide. But when critics pooh-poohed it, airline execs sent it down the drain.

Video: Pilot Episode of Southwest Airlines “Cash Lav” is Flush with Humor

By contrast, Swoop Airlines of Canada had passengers down in the dumps when it announced an April 1 price hike on in-flight facilities. Tags like #ThisStinks! and #SoCrappy! spread online as many cried foul. Get the full scoop here.

An unsmiling traveler on an airport escalator evokes the need for aviation innovations and creative problem solving. [Image public domain]

Passengers are obviously very excited by commercial airlines’ April 1 upgrades.

Snacks on a Plane!

Canada’s WestJet solved air travel’s scariest problem: in-flight beverage carts that block the aisle. For too long passengers had returned from the loo only to get stuck in a slow-moving conga line. WestJet’s creative thinkers installed rails that let robotic snack canteens glide overhead, air-dropping snacks and beverages onto tray tables. Or laps.

Video: Robotic Automated Light Food Handler (#RALFH) Tosses Cookies

man walking a cow reminds the author of airlines’ creative problem solving and policies regarding animals. [Image public domain]

Animal airline passengers can now bring along their Emotional Support Humans.

Room at the Top

As competition for creative problem-solving went full-throttle midair, other sectors of the travel industry elbowed their way onboard. With no armrest for latecomers, success belonged to those who kept their feet on the ground, their head in the clouds, and their tray tables under the seats in front of them.

Some companies formed alliances. But the merger of aviation and five-star accommodation had already reached its zenith on April 1, 2009 with the debut of The Hotelicopter. In a shocking twist, the world’s first flying hotel never took off. Soaring demand kept the luxury rooms out of reach of even the highest flyers.

Video: Hotelicopter Generates Spin, Raises Reservations

An astonished looking construction worker reminds the author of the need for aviation innovations and creative problem solving. [Image public domain]

Airlines will offer discounts to passengers who help build the planes.

Trending Travel Take-Offs

As home-centric businesses get in on the act, flights of fancy innovation will transform all aspects of travel, even staycations.

Airbnb announced a spin-off brand one recent April 1. Recognizing that “every hero needs a hideaway,” the home-share business launched “Lairbnb,” complete with unique transportation to the airport. See the ad.

Not to be caught napping, Lucid Mattress delivered a wakeup call with the April 1 roll-out of ShareBED. View here.

The Future of Travel Is Ahead

Experts confirm that the travel innovations of April 1, 2020 will differ from those of the present day. But while no one can predict the present, today’s headlines could herald incredible examples of creative problem-solving.

So ignore any naysayers who insist, “It’s all fake news on the first of April.” (Fools!)

A moving sidewalk at an airport reminds the author of the need for aviation innovations and creative problem solving. [Image public domain]

Linking motorized walkways from LAX to JFK will reduce overcrowding in planes.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Innovations/Rides (Land, Sea, Air)/Worldwide Sites

Jul

A Ticket to Surf (No Fear)

by Eva Boynton on July 11, 2016

A shark fin in the ocean, prompting creative thinkers to invent shark repellent (image © DIgitalStorm/Thinkstock).

The shark fin—native to its ocean habitat and symbol of horror films.
© DigitalStorm/Thinkstock

Creative Thinkers Invent Shark Repellent

Ahhhh. A beach vacation with adventure—

Catching a wave in Australia

Diving in Hawaii’s coral reef

Kayaking the coast of California

You won’t be alone . . . dunah . . . dunah. That’s right, there will be other tourists there too! And of course, marine life, possibly sharks.

Surfers, who decide to play in the playground of a predator, are used to taking a ration of fear along for the ride. But now ocean enthusiasts and other creative thinkers have teamed up to develop a shark repellent that relaxes the mind and eliminates the fear for surfers.

And it just might provide an answer for coexisting with sharks, who are essential animals in the ocean environment.

A beach full of people, showing the need for a shark repellent by creative thinkers (image © Blackeyedog/Thinkstock)

Beach tourism is no longer two chairs on an empty beach.
© BlackEyedDog/Thinkstock

Too Much Fun In the Sun?

Why are shark attacks on the increase? The number of people in coastal waters has skyrocketed. For example, Toronga Conservation Society of Australia reports this population increase for Australia:

1900 = 3.7 million
1950 = 8.3 million
1990 = 17 million
2011 = 22.7 million
2014 = 23.5 million

Of course, more people going into the water will result in a higher chance for contact with marine life, including sharks.

A person giving surf lessons at the beach, showing the reason for creative thinkers to invent shark repellent (image © Anthony Ong).

Where there is an ocean to play in, there are surfers ready to play.
© Anthony Ong

The recent rise in shark attacks has set in motion reactions from governments, organizations, scientists, surfers, and other ocean enthusiasts.

The goal: reinstate a relaxed vibe by protecting ocean goers. Meeting this goal can manifest itself in government plans for shark culling—the trapping and killing of sharks—or lenient policies on hunting sharks for their fins. Even as shark numbers are decreasing, 100 million are being killed annually for shark fin soup in Asia.

But, what about the sharks?

Step into the Fins of a Shark

Sharks get a bad rap for simply surviving in their habitat.

Consider Hollywood horror movies like Jaws, Jaws 2, Cruel Jaws, and Jurassic Shark. In my opinion, they are due for a required disclaimer:

Beware! Side effects may include an irrational fear of the ocean and demonization of the shark species. Watch at your own risk.

In a real shark attack, the media often portrays the survivor as hero and the shark as villain. But it’s not that simple.

In reality, humans depend on sharks for keeping a natural balance in the ocean.

A shark swimming in the ocean, showing why creative thinkers invented shark repellent (image © Ajlber/Thinkstock).

Sharks are to be revered and respected in their blue home.
© Ajlber/Thinkstock

Sharks have been on earth for over 200 million years; humans, 200,000 years. We need sharks around because they eat marine animals that are sick and weak, leaving a healthier animal population in the ocean for the food we eat. Humans, as it turns out, are only accidental prey.

Graffiti of sharks and a sign against shark finning, showing why creative thinkers invented shark repellent (image © Nathan Garrison).

Graffiti in Wellington, New Zealand, protests shark finning and illustrates the first smiling shark.
© Nathan Garrison

Elyse Frankcom, who was bitten by a shark while guiding a scuba tour, supports shark protection. She explains that government money is better spent on investing in a solution that not only thinks about human safety but will also “preserve the wildlife in the ocean that’s a natural beauty and belongs there.”

Like-minded people began asking, “Might there be a way to protect both the ocean enthusiasts and the sharks?” That’s when the creative thinkers got going, and the idea of shark repellent was born.

The Science Behind Shark Repellent

Surfers, scientists and ocean enthusiasts put their heads together to invent products that allow people to have fun in the sun while protecting sharks living in their natural habitat.

How do the products work? Sharks use electroreception, an electrical signal detection that can spot prey without using their eyes.

An illustration of how sharks sense their prey, showing the danger to surfers and why creative thinkers invented shark repellent (image © Shark Shield).

How sharks sense prey
© Shark Shield

New products from both Sharkbanz and Shark Shield repel sharks by overriding that sense without causing long-term effects to the shark.

A woman surfer wearing a shark repellent bracelet, showing the invention of creative thinkers (image © Elyse Lu).

Shark repellent does not come in a can. It comes in a stylish Sharkbanz wrist band.
© Elyse Lu

Sharkbanz, a band placed on the wrist or ankle, sends out magnetic waves that disrupt the shark’s electroreception, and the shark abruptly turns around. Dr. Stroud, senior chemist for, a company researching shark repellent technology, explains it this way:

It is “like a person suddenly shining a very bright light in your eyes in a dark room, and it’s not pleasant.”

A spear fisherman swimming with shark repellent, showing the invention of creative thinkers (image © Jose Debassa).

“Save a shark. Use a Shark Shield.”
© Jose Debassa

The Shark Shield comes as a cord attached to the ankle or as an antenna connected to the grip pad of a surfboard. These send out electrical waves that cause short-term muscle spasms in the electroreceptors of sharks, also repelling them. They dart away into the blue.

Although Sharkbanz and Sharkshield cannot confirm 100% effectiveness as a repellent, they are absolutely effective in reducing the fears of surfers, divers, kayakers, swimmers, and spear fisherman.

As Dean Gregory from Perth in Western Australia says:

“It takes that little niggle out of the back of my mind, helps you relax and just surf.”

Protecting Surfers, Protecting Sharks

Lindsay Lyon, CEO and managing director of Shark Shield, explains,

“I’d say the biggest ‘Oh, I see’ moment in the business was realizing that selling on fear was a very bad thing. Our brand is about ‘enabling’ our customers to enjoy their adventure sport, it’s not about selling fear, this is the wrong approach.”

Reducing the fear also reduces the need for harmful action against sharks. A win-win for sharks and humans.

Those who enjoy using the ocean have a responsibility to preserve the habitat for all living things. Shark repellents are encouraging us in that direction: to find solutions that work for humans and for the animals in the natural environment we play in.

A surfer wearing shark repellent, showing how creative thinkers have found a solution (image © Josh Letchworth).

“Get out there. Surf without fear.”
© Josh Letchworth

Perhaps these Hong Kong children, creative thinkers themselves, said it best when they showed their respect for sharks on Kids Ocean Day:

Thank you, Lindsay from Shark Shield and Nathan from Sharkbanz, for providing me with information and photographs about shark repellent, and thank you especially for your conservation efforts.

Educate yourself about sharks and shark safety at Taronga (Conservation Society of Australia).

Check out shark myths at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Eva Boynton Comments

Adventure Travel/Innovations/Rides (Land, Sea, Air)/Worldwide Sites

Jun

Climb into a Painting and Take Some Selfies

by Meredith Mullins on June 8, 2015

Boy stepping out of interactive 3D art, a replica of a painting by Vincent Van Gogh, provides rich opportunities for selfies in the interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo Courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

Becoming part of the art
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

Interactive 3D Art Takes Hold in the Philippines

Somewhere deep in our dreams, we all want to be famous—or at least the lead actor in a production or the star of the moment.

I sang my heart out as an 8-year-old, in the secluded corners of our house, with a broomstick microphone in hand. I knew the words to every musical. I pictured myself accepting the Oscar (with great humility and a speech that brought tears to every member of the audience). Didn’t happen.

Young woman pretending to hold mouth of sea monster open in the interactive 3D art painting, which provides rich opportunities for selfies in the interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

Open wide
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

3D Dreams at Art in Island Museum

Thanks to the Korean creators of a new interactive 3D art museum in the Philippines, these kinds of dramatic-role dreams can come true for all of us non-celebrities. Visitors can become stars of selfies, letting their inner actor emerge.

Bring your own costumes, props, and creative spirit . . . and step into a world of phenomenal 3D art.

Lights

Action

Camera

Person pretending to be a mermaid in the interactive 3D art painting, which provides rich opportunities for selfies in the interactive 3D Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

Mermaid-inspired creativity
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

Innovations that Inspire

The Art in Island Museum opened six months ago in Quezon City, north of Manila, and is already a bricks-and-mortar—and viral— sensation.

The CEO, Yun Jae Kyoung, decided to open the museum in the Philippines because of Filipinos’ love affair with taking selfies and sharing them with people they care about on social media.

It is one of the largest 3D art museums in the world, with a variety of “trick art” paintings.

High angle shot of the interior of the Art in Island Museum in the Philippines, a place rich in opportunities for selfies and the experience of interactive 3D art. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

One of the themed rooms at the Art in Island Museum
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

The large murals were designed by a team of Korean master painters to give the illusion of depth and to allow visitors to become part of the art.

The art spans the spectrum, from interpretations of iconic paintings—such as Van Gogh’s “The Church at Auvers,” Munch’s “The Scream,” and Fragonard’s “The Swing”—to optical illusions where the realities of size, space, and gravity are in question.

Man catching a shoe in front of the ED art replica of Fragonard's The Swing, providing rich opportunities for selfies at the 3D interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

An interpretation of Fragonard’s “The Swing”
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

Visitors can climb walls, take a gondola ride, balance on ancient tombs, surf the perfect curl, or dunk a basket, no matter their skill, age, or height.

Young man dunking a basketball in the 3D interactive painting, providing rich opportunities for selfies at the 3D interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

A slam dunk
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

The Museum’s Priority: Go Crazy

This is a museum that defies the standard rules. You can touch things. You can climb on things. You can take as many photographs as you want and stay as long as you like.

The human interaction with the art is as fun as the art itself, since creative and comical poses are encouraged.

Boy appearing out of proportion looks a smaller person in large chair in the 3D interactive painting, providing rich opportunities for selfies at the 3D interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

Size may or may not matter.
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

If you can’t take a selfie in a particular painting (and, let’s face it, you’ll need an XXL selfie stick or smartphone remote to make a self-portrait with this large-scale art), the museum staff are available to serve as paparazzi.

The only rule: you can’t wear shoes, since they might damage the painting on the floor. Bring some socks, go barefoot, or use the museum-provided comfy slippers.

Person balancing in a 3D interactive painting of ancient ruins, providing rich opportunities for selfies in the 3D interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Image © Edgar Alan Zeta-Yap.)

The Fun of Being Part of Art

The interactive 3D art museum philosophy says, “We want you to be part of art.” Oh, I see the fun people are having and the creativity that emerges as visitors become part of the art. So, I’m all for how these 3D innovations feed the current craze for selfies.

Woman under waterfall in a 3D interactive painting, providing rich opportunities for selfies at the 3D interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Image © Edgar Alan Zeta-Yap.)

And maybe, after that hunger for fame and self-recognition is fed, we can go to an art museum and fight the urge to photograph the work or photograph ourselves in front of each masterpiece to prove we were “there.”

Instead, we can just spend the moment in awed silence and think about how a work of art makes us feel. That, for me, is the true meaning of interactive art.

Woman in white against the 3D interactive angel wing painting, providing rich opportunities for selfies at the 3D interactive Art in Island Museum in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum.)

We can all be perfect angels.
(photo courtesy of Art in Island Museum)

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 2 Comments

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