Air New Zealand is Trialling Augmented Reality Headsets That Can Read Emotions

Do you want the cookie and the corn chips? Is the extraordinarily long inflight safety video making you feel uncomfortable? Is there time for another cup of Shiraz? These are all concerns that Air New Zealand's inflight servers may soon be able to address without you even having to lose a single breath of recirculated cabin air.

The airline's latest initiative to stay ahead of the curve is giving travellers a sneak peek into the future of inflight service, Robocop style. The airline has been working with information technology service provider Dimension Data on software for Microsoft's augmented reality viewer HoloLens. Unveiled during Techweek NZ, the futuristic headset could support cabin crew as they carry out their inflight duties by aggregating and displaying key customer information directly in front of them.

That means they'll receive data such as a traveller's preferred meal and drink, the time since your last refreshment, onward travel and loyalty membership details. The programme is even sophisticated enough to detect the emotion of the customer by picking up on visual and audio cues.

The future is nigh.