KLM Releases AR App for Measuring Carry-on's
If you’re a frequent traveler, then you’ve experienced the brief flash of doubt as you wonder if your carry-on bag will fit in the cabin of the aircraft or not. Most travelers are not pedantic enough to pull out a measuring tape and check the exact dimensions of their luggage. But not doing so could mean over one hundred dollars in fees for additional checked baggage.
KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, has created a solution to this problem. By using augmented reality to virtually measure the dimensions of a passenger’s luggage compared to that of a bag with the maximum allowable dimensions, travelers can now put their minds at ease before they leave the house that their suitcase is small enough to bring on the plane.
KLM’s method for achieving this may look familiar: users download an app to their smartphone, point their camera at their luggage, and compare their bag with a digital bag that appears next to their own. By using an overlay of the maximum bag size on top of theirs, passengers can be sure that their bag is of the proper dimensions for travel.
Pieter Groeneveld, senior vice president of KLM, had this to say about the new software:
“By offering this service, we are placing the needs of our customers first. We also continue to be pioneers of innovation in our passengers’ best interests.”
While this addition may amount to little more than a convenience for both travelers and airport staff personnel, it shows that augmented reality continues to find real-world applications across industries worldwide. Following a recent reduction in maximum size of carry-on bags by major airlines such as Delta and United Airlines, it seems airlines are doing whatever they can to prevent frustration at airports by travelers who were used to the previous maximum allowable size for carry-on luggage.
As the use cases for augmented reality continue to pile up, it seems that augmented reality is slowly finding its foothold in the business world. And while nothing groundbreaking seems to have overtly pushed its way into mainstream consciousness (other than Snapchat and Pokemon Go, of course), the way things are going, it’s likely only a matter of time.
What do you think of KLM’s new augmented reality app? Let us know in a comment!
