Afraid of flying? Airbus' sensory isolation helmet may be the answer for your travel needs

Credit: Airbus

Friday, September 19, 2014, 1:06 PM - Fear of flying, also known as aviophobia, prevents many people around the world from travelling, but airplane manufacturer Airbus wants to help. A new patent they've filed is for a 'sensory isolation helmet' that promises to help anxious fliers make their journeys with greater ease and comfort.

For those of us who can't stand the idea of flying, and go out of their way to avoid it at all costs, how do you think you would do if you didn't even know you were flying? If you could get on board the aircraft, buckle your seatbelt and then completely tune everything out until the moment you pulled up to the gate at your destination, completely avoiding all of the 'triggers' for your anxiety?

It may look a little funny (especially in these simple patent drawings), but that's exactly what Airbus is offering with their sensory isolation helmet.

The helmet, which is intended as an optional attachment for the seat's headrest (#20) is designed to nearly completely enclose the passenger's head, and provide something akin to a virtual reality environment for them. The unit includes full-adjustable noise-cancelling headphones (#50) that should be able to play music or other noises, but would also add a 'white noise' option to completely block out the noises in the cabin.

Credit: Airbus

For deeper sensory isolation, the helmet can even include a pair of glasses (#60 in the diagram) that will fold down over the passenger's eyes, which would act as a display screen for what they call a 'holographic projection mode'.

This apparently wouldn't be a completely uncontrolled situation either (as a lack of control may be part of the passenger's anxiety). The setup would include things like a virtual keyboard option (#74), a digitizing pad (#76), and motion-capture gloves (#77), that would allow the passenger to control the settings of the helmet, the images or videos it displays and the sounds it produces.

Credit: Airbus

The helmet can even provide olfactory isolation, blowing fresh air over the passenger's face or providing certain odours that might be calming for them. These options can be combined in any way, from simply blocking peripheral vision to complete sensory isolation.

The only factors that are left out are the passenger's innate knowledge of where they are, and their sense of touch and motion, which would certainly keep them aware of where they are (especially if the plane encountered turbulence).

It's most certainly a way for the airlines to expand their market to include people who avoid flying, but it's also a very interesting idea that could help anyone who would like to fly somewhere but who has been too anxious to make the trip. The question is, would it be enough?

For anyone out there who does get anxious about flying, do you think that this would help you? Would you give it a try if it became available? Leave your comments below.