Urban-Air Port and Coventry University use VR to capture the Air One passenger experience - Vertical Magazine

Estimated speechmaking clip 5 minutes, 36 seconds.

Urban-Air Port’s innovative vertiport technology, Air One, features extensively successful a caller insubstantial written by Coventry University. This archetypal of a benignant survey uses quality factors probe and VR exertion to pass the palmy plan of infrastructure to enactment aboriginal mobility. The Air One vertiport, built successful Coventry City Centre successful April of this year, served arsenic a demonstrator of sustainable infrastructure for rider aerial taxis and autonomous drones for precocious aerial mobility.

Urban-Air Port’s Founder Ricky Sandhu (right) with Coventry University’s Stewart Birrell (left) and Andy Street (center), Mayor of the West Midlands, astatine the Air One lawsuit successful Coventry. Urban-Air Port Photo

Designed to beryllium ultra-compact, Air One captures the accepted airdrome situation and scales it down to acceptable wrong a condensed footprint, retaining cardinal operational and rider processing elements specified arsenic check-in and security, arsenic good arsenic retail and nutrient and beverage areas to make an enjoyable traveller experience. A focal country of Coventry University’s experimentation progressive evaluating this rider travel done investigation of enactment with the VR simulation.

UAP developed the Air One plan aboriginal successful 2021 for the UKRI’s Future Flight Challenge Phase 2 arsenic portion of a palmy bid, moving with a consortium whose members included Coventry City Council and Coventry University. During this play the UAP plan squad collaborated with proscription designers astatine the NTDC to physique an immersive VR situation of Air One. UAP provided CAD (Computer Aided Design) models of the infrastructure, which NTDC utilized to make a 3D situation – overmuch similar a machine crippled – which volunteers for the survey could past navigate utilizing a VR headset.

Conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic and nether safely controlled conditions, participants successful the experimentation were fixed “customer travel scenarios” to complete, for example, sojourn the Urban-Air Port Café, bargain a java and past spell to your gross to committee an eVTOL (Electric vertical take-off & landing) vehicle. Users were past asked to navigate the virtual Air One utilizing signage and wayfinding created by the NTDC. An investigation of the volunteers’ reactions and responses to the virtual situation was assessed to ascertain the level of accessibility and easiness of navigation, providing an penetration into the effectiveness of the vertiport layout and wayfinding strategy passim the infrastructure, a cardinal constituent successful vertiport lawsuit experience.

“We’re delighted that Air One has played an important relation successful Coventry University’s probe into aboriginal mobility infrastructure and quality interaction,” said Ricky Sandhu, laminitis and enforcement president astatine Urban-Air Port. “At Urban-Air Port we judge lawsuit acquisition is key. Our ngo is to bring seamless zero-emission journeys to our towns and cities – cleaner, greener and quicker intermodal question – utilising a much compact vertiport footprint to supply each the benefits of a accepted airport. Our collaboration with Coventry University’s NTDC during FFC2 has resulted successful different world-first with the work of their research. We’re assured these findings volition beryllium invaluable successful helping to signifier the lawsuit acquisition plan for aboriginal Urban-Air Ports.”

“Working with Urban-Air Port astatine the aboriginal plan stages of the Air One vertiport ensured that we could maximize the usability and lawsuit acquisition of this aboriginal transport infrastructure,” said Stewart Birrell, prof of Human Factors for Future Transport, Coventry University. “Through our innovative usage of VR to realistically correspond however a idiosyncratic mightiness interact with the vertiport, we could summation an knowing of ‘people exciters’ and ‘pain points’ for aboriginal aerial travel. With this knowledge, we could re-design the idiosyncratic acquisition for Air One to beryllium accessible, casual to navigate and a pleasance to use.”

As Urban-Air Port works with intimately with regulators and agencies connected certification of vertiport design, quality factors probe plays an important relation successful enhancing the rider acquisition and accessibility done wayfinding and navigation wrong aboriginal mobility infrastructure solutions. Urban-Air Port looks guardant to proceed moving with Coventry University and the NTDC to research innovative probe methods to prosecute with aboriginal passengers and heighten the plan of the lawsuit journey.

To work the afloat published probe insubstantial by Coventry University delight sojourn the pursuing link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687022001661

This property merchandise was prepared and distributed by Urban-Air Port.