THALES INFLYT GEN 6

Huemen Design

THALES

Overview

Huemen teamed up with aerospace company, Thales (th-ales), to create the InFlyt Generation 6, a passenger entertainment device with a superior design that meets the standards of Thales’ passengers.

The challenge

The InFlyt Generation 6 needed to improve upon the previous Thales Generation 5 InFlyt. Our designers found that the Generation 5 was too big for next-gen aircraft equipped with more seats and narrower seatbacks. Additionally, not all high-wear components could be easily replaced by a service technician. The light-emitting ports also required an update, as customers were experiencing uneven USB and headphone port lighting issues. With these challenges in mind, we were ready to give the InFlyt a next-gen upgrade.


What we learned

Our designers met with the Thales Avionics Team in Orange County, CA, to understand Thales’ product development and general design guidelines.

Our biggest takeaway from this meeting: the device’s viability hinged on passing the Head Impact Collision (HIC) test. This criterion helped guide us as we designed and produced a new seatback entertainment system.

Our tactics

Thales’ InFlyt Gen6 needed to clearly demonstrate a reduction in weight and size, improved serviceability, and elimination of lighting issues. We used these goals as focus points for the main framework of our ideation.

The result

The new InFlyt Gen 6 is narrower, shorter, and lighter; free of hotspot lighting issues; and resolves over a third of technician pain points.

The design features a slimmer size and weight, optimized for the new backseats on the aircraft. While the original design only provided a headphone jack, we added USB-C, USB-A, Power, DND, bath light, and Captouch power.

All these new features and improvements mean Thales can offer an industry leading in-flight experience for their airline customers. Passengers can now enjoy their travel with seamless entertainment, lighting, power, and connectivity.

Tags

Design Research, Digital design, Engineering, human centered design, Industrial Design, Innovation, Product Design, Product Development, Research, Research development, strategic design