CASE STUDY
Emirates journey into XR
In May last year , Emirates Group embarked on futuristic , immersive digital journey to transform its employee experience , by collaborating with Amazon Web Services , AWS . The agreement covers the development of an immersive extended reality , iXR platform and capability for the Emirates Group ’ s cabin crew , new joiners , and industry partner community . 3D virtual hubs , virtual training , gamified environments , simulated experiences are part of the scope of work .
iXR uses AWS spatial computing and artificial intelligence , and delivers photorealistic experiences . For employees , the iXR experiences will be available across wearables and hand-held devices , including tablets and mobiles , with a consistent , hi-fidelity experience , streamed from the cloud .
In the first phase , iXR will have three distinct capabilities – a collaborative hub and social space ; cabin crew training ; and employee onboarding . The Emirates Virtual Hub will welcome employees to engaging and interactive brand experiences .
Successful implementation of technology by Emirates helps boost customer benefits and drives positive levels of customer experience . But for Emirates , successful implementation of a technology has one very important return . And that is less employees required to serve the passenger .
So instead of having a hundred employees for the task , for example , successful implementation of a technology may reduce that number by 50 % allowing the remaining to be upskilled for the next level of upcoming passenger engagement .
Performance challenges
Large scale infusion of technology has its risks as well . The most visible ones are when technology fails and passenger operations are disrupted . The other challenge that is more prevalent is from cybersecurity threat actors . iXR offers 3D interactive experience for the airline ’ s cabin crew . The crew is transported into virtual classrooms , where they engage with and learn from seasoned facilitators and peers , and navigate the interiors of the airline ’ s flagship A380s and Boeing 777s . The environment features cabin service trainers , photorealistic avatars , spatial audio for a sensory experience .
iXR will help cabin crew interact and familiarise themselves with the platform in an interactive , high-fidelity 3D environment which they can explore at their convenience , leading to greater knowledge transfer and employee satisfaction .
The hyperreal virtual world helps new recruits to learn quickly and visually more about the organisation and its extensive business , the people and its culture , their own roles , and living in Dubai . It also helps in the onboarding experience .
“ This is not just a challenge faced by Emirates , it is a challenge faced by the industry ,” points out Al Redha .
Another challenge is the increasing pace of technology refresh that started accelerating with digital platforms , first with the cloud and now Artificial Intelligence .
Typically , change management of an organisation and implementation of technology and migration and switch over by business users is a drawn out process . The evolving pace of technology cycles usually means that by the time such an implementation is completed , the next refresh cycle has already arrived . iXR , establishes Emirates as the first airline with an embedded extended reality platform connected to its operations . iXR uses advanced technologies including Epic Games ’ Unreal Engine , offering developers reliable real-time capabilities on AWS ’ cloud . The Emirates Group continues to engage with industry partners on its Web3 strategy , and recruit talent for projects in its pipeline .
“ We evaluate technology , we evaluate the application , and we evaluate its return . If return is not there for the customer , we will not adopt the technology just for the sake of adopting technology ,” points out Al Redha .
“ It has to give the airline the benefit , it has to give the customer the benefit , and it has to be efficient .”
“ Technology companies need to make applications more reliable , more robust and more secure ,” says Al Redha .
Emirates is also working with aircraft manufacturers to innovate more for better passenger experience . Emirates was one of the first airlines to introduce in-flight entertainment in the nineties . Enhancements and improvements to the first and business class sections are driven by Emirates . Emirates has extended the range of its aircraft , the payload they carry , and on-board Internet . Emirates needs to work with not only aircraft manufacturers but the network provider and satellite provider , to provide the right bandwidth connection .
If a technology is simple to use and reliable in terms of its performance , passengers will have confidence in its usage , will use it often , and generate benefits for themselves and Emirates . “ That is the kind of thing we are looking at ,” says Al Redha .
“ Emirates has always been pushing the boundaries of aircraft performance , and the boundaries of in-flight comfort ,” says Al Redha . “ And Emirates will continue to push the bar when it comes to customer service onboard aircraft and in the ground .” p
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