Video: EasyJet’s Vision of What Travel Will Look Like in 50 Years
A new report from easyJet projects travel experiences 50 years from now that could include everything from ancient history to Moon walks
Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Herring
Moon vacations, heartbeat passports, and hotel buffet food from a 3D printer are among the predictions in the new 2070: The Future Travel Report, commissioned by low-cost carrier easyJet.
The report, which forecasts how we will travel 50 years from now, was authored by a group of leading academics and futurists. It looks ahead to innovations in airports and airlines, accommodations, and travel experiences.
Detailed renderings have brought four predictions to life, showcasing how travel could look in 2070, including a video hosted by noted science television presenter Dallas Campbell.
Your future journey begins at the airport, where heartbeat and biometric passports will replace today’s hard-copy passports. Every person’s cardiac signature is unique, like fingerprints and retina patterns.
Airport security and immigration systems will have heartbeat signatures and biometric details housed on a global system to verify the traveler’s ID.
Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Herring
Another visual depicts a new aircraft interior fitted with adjustable, biomimetic seats that use intelligent materials to adapt to passengers’ body shape, height, weight, and temperature.
During your flight, you will enjoy entertainment beamed directly in front of your eyes via optoelectronic devices, replacing onboard screens and eliminating the need to download movies before you fly.
Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Herring
Upon arrival at your destination, some of the futuristic experiences that await you include a hotel buffet with food 3D printed to your order while reducing food waste. Your personal vacation wardrobe will also be 3D printed to your size from recyclable material and available on arrival, which means no more schlepping suitcases.
Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Herring
Hotels will feature personalized smart rooms that adapt and configure on arrival to individual traveler needs based on preferences selected when the stay is booked. And the experts predict more hotels will be underground, built into the earth, or submerged for a unique underwater experience.
Technology will also enable you to ‘time-travel’ – wearing haptic suits at historical sites to immerse yourself live into experiences of the past, taking in the sights of the ancient world like a true-to-life Colossus of Rhodes, or watching competitors at the original Olympic Games in historic Athens.
Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Herring
Alternately, you may choose short space-based trips or astronaut-experience vacations on the Moon, complete with moon-buggy rides.
The Future Travel Report envisions your return home via e-VTOL air taxi, eliminating the need for the airport parking shuttle. The futurists predict 85 percent of passengers will travel to and from the airport aboard e-VTOLs.
The easyJet report was co-authored by some of Europe’s leading futurists and aerospace, innovation, and engineering experts, including Professor Birgitte Andersen, Professor Graham Braithwaite, Dr. Patrick Dixon, Nikhil Sachdeva, futurist Shivvy Jervis and design scientist Dr. Melissa Sterry.
“This next 50 years will bring the largest technological advances we have ever seen in travel and tourism,” said Professor Andersen of Birkbeck College, who headed up the report. “Looking forward, by the year 2070, the destinations we fly to, the type of accommodation we stay in, and the experiences we have will have changed immeasurably.”
Johan Lundgren, easyJet CEO, commented, “Innovation is in our DNA, and we’re always challenging ourselves to think big. From biometric heartbeat passports to time-traveling holiday experiences, travel in 2070 is likely to be very different and exciting indeed.”
