menu

AIRBUS

 42,766

Metaverse and the Future of Flight

Help Airbus imagine the travel experience of the future through the use of the metaverse!

This challenge is closed

stage:
Won
prize:
$30,000

This challenge is closed

more
Summary
Timeline
Updates23
Forum5
Teams462
Press
Resources
FAQ
Summary

Overview

As the metaverse grows and matures, it has the potential to change how we interact and experience just about everything - including travel.   In the broadest sense, the metaverse is an embodiment of the internet as a virtual or digital world that is experienced through the use of digital tools, including augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).  Many people already dabble in the metaverse by playing games and/or socializing.  But businesses are increasingly probing this new space for its potential to enhance our real life experiences.  If you’ve ever wondered how the digital world could improve the travel experience, then this challenge is for you.

Airbus is the manufacturer of some of the world’s most innovative commercial aircraft and is a global leader in the aerospace industry.  They have a long history of experimenting with and adopting new technologies, and they want to hear your ideas for how the metaverse can be used to provide better services and experiences for passengers traveling by air.  

This challenge is open to anyone with a good idea for how Airbus can use the metaverse to improve the passenger experience.  Five winners will share in a $30,000 prize purse for their compelling ideas.  

 

 


Guidelines

The metaverse is suddenly everywhere, and everyone is getting involved!  Like many other new technologies, the possibilities seem endless.  Sometimes it’s hard to get past all the hype to envision the tangible ways that it can impact your industry or specific area.  

Airbus is just starting to explore this new space.  With this challenge, we are tapping into the power of the crowd to understand some of the potential of the metaverse, specifically with respect to the passenger’s door-to-door experience.  We are looking for immersive, experiential ways in which a passenger can interact with the metaverse during the travel process.  Ideally, we would like submitted ideas to be supported by some sort of proof of concept, such as a short executable or a video walkthrough.  If you’re an experienced developer, show us your chops!  But if you’re new to this and have an idea, we also want to hear from you.  In that case, you can help us see your vision through other visualization tools, such as story-boarding or animation.

We are open to anything that improves a passenger’s experience, whether your idea provides a new way to complete a task, increases accessibility, or offers a service that was previously not available .   Examples of ways in which the metaverse could impact the travel process include:

  • Providing passengers with opportunities to pre-select or pre-order things before travel or when purchasing air travel tickets, where VR provides a richer understanding of the selection being made:
    • Seat assignments
    • Meals
    • In-flight entertainment options
  • Helping passengers with accessibility and inclusion concerns by giving them access to a virtual reality (VR) experience that allows them to familiarize themselves with their path to their seats from the moment they arrive at their airport to the moment they are seated.
  • Offering passengers opportunities to enjoy immersive experiences that distract them from the confines of the aircraft cabin during long flights:
    • Gaming or metaverse entertainment
    • Other in-flight experiences, such flight simulation for the aircraft you’re in
  • Helping passengers use their flight time efficiently:
    • Access to collaborative tools for work or social networking
    • Access to educational tools or online classrooms
    • Virtual shopping or running of errands
  • Anything that improves the door-to-door travel experience

These suggested starting points are meant to inspire you and represent just a small glimpse of the possibilities.  Although we don’t expect a fully-built out experience, we do need to see enough detail in your submission to understand its potential feasibility, functionality, and any possible roadblocks.  Your submission should include a description of benefits and advantages provided by your idea, some sort of visualization of your ideas - like a short video walkthrough or a storyboard, and optionally an executable file or a link to your experience.

 

Prize

Airbus will recognize five winners with a total prize purse of $30,000.  The team submitting the most compelling vision for how the metaverse can improve the passenger experience will win $10,000, and four other teams will win $5000 each.  

Prize

Award

Total

First place (1 winner)

$10,000

$10,000

Second place (4 winners)

$5000

$20,000

Total prize purse

$30,000

 

Timeline

Open to Submissions: April 26, 2022

Submission Deadline: June 14, 2022 @ 5pm ET

Judging: June 14 - July 12, 2022

Winners Announced: July 19, 2022 Winners announcement date updated to September 13, 2022

 

How do I win?

To be eligible for an award, your submission must, at minimum:

  • Leverage the metaverse,
  • Be applicable to Airbus and aligned with their vision to be a pioneer in the aerospace industry for a better-connected, safer and more prosperous world,
  • Thoughtfully address the submission form questions, and
  • Be scored higher than your competitors!

You may submit up to five unique entries. If you submit more, only the first five entries will be reviewed. Each entry requires a unique proof of concept.

 

Judging Criteria

SectionDescriptionOverall Weight
User Experience

The approach is easy to understand and intuitive to use.  The intent is well-communicated to Airbus.

It creates a transformative experience for the user:

  • Is powerful
  • Is immersive
  • Is fun and novel
  • Makes the travel experience feel new
  • Is easy to use and compelling
35
Potential impact on commercial aviation and/or Airbus

The concept improves the travel experience or associated processes for passengers, airline personnel, and/or other stakeholders.  It adds value to the passenger’s experience.

For example, a solution with a strong impact on commercial aviation could improve the flight experience for passengers, increase the efficiency of pilots or flight attendants, or provide a revenue opportunity for airlines or Airbus.

25
Novelty/Creativity

The concept is new or new to commercial aviation.  

It affords a capability that is only possible due to the use of the metaverse.

A novel solution may leverage the metaverse to improve upon existing ways of doing something or propose something entirely unique.

20
Ease of Implementation

How easy would it be to bring this concept to life? 

Consider if the technology is readily available, if it requires a large investment in hardware, regulatory approval, or other substantial hurdle to implementation.

20

 

Rules

Participation Eligibility:

The challenge is open to all adult individuals, private teams, public teams, and collegiate teams. Teams may originate from any country, so long as US Federal Sanctions or other Official Sanctions do not prohibit participation. Submissions must be made in English. All challenge-related communication will be in English.  Airbus employees are not eligible.

No specific qualifications or expertise in the field of the metaverse or air travel is required. Prize organizers encourage outside individuals and non-expert teams to compete and propose new solutions. 

To be eligible to compete, you must comply with all the terms of the challenge as defined in the Challenge-Specific Agreement.

Registration and Submissions:

Submissions must be made online (only), via upload to the HeroX.com website, on or before 5:00 PM EDT on June 14, 2022. No late submissions will be accepted.

This challenge allows up to five submission per individual/team. You are not required to submit multiple entries. Should you have multiple entries to submit to this challenge, they will be considered separately. Whether or not multiple entries from the same individual or team may be chosen for a prize is up to the discretion of the Challenge Sponsor. 

Intellectual Property Rights:

As detailed in the Challenge-Specific Agreement – All intellectual property rights, if any, and all inventions, patents, patent applications, designs, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, software, source code, object code, processes, formulae, ideas, methods, know-how, techniques, devices, creative works, works of authorship, publications, and/or other intellectual property (“Intellectual Property”) developed by Innovator as part of the Submission will remain with Innovator, subject to the following condition:
If Challenge Sponsor notifies Innovator that Submission is eligible for a Prize, Innovator will be considered qualified as a finalist (“Finalist”). Finalist must agree to grant to the Challenge Sponsor a royalty free, non-exclusive license in respect of all such intellectual property rights, if any, for the purposes of commercial exploitation of the idea or concept demonstrated by the Submission. Notwithstanding granting the Challenge Sponsor a perpetual, non-exclusive license for the submission, Finalist retains ownership of the submission.

Awarding of the Prize:

The Individual Submitter or Team Captain is automatically designated as the Recipient of the prize monies. The Individual’s or Captain’s name must also match the Authorized Person on the receiving Bank Account. No changes are permitted to the prize Recipient after the Submission Deadline date. If you wish to change who would receive the prize monies, those changes must be completed prior to the Submission Deadline. View our Knowledge Base article here for how to change Team Captains.

Judging Panel:

The determination of the winners will be made by a group of people as determined by Airbus.

Additional Information

  • By participating in the challenge, each competitor agrees to adhere to the HeroX Intellectual Integrity Policy and promises to submit only their original idea. Any indication of "copying" amongst competitors is grounds for disqualification.
  • All applications will go through a process of due diligence; any application found to be misrepresentative, plagiarized, or sharing an idea that is not their own will be automatically disqualified.
  • All ineligible applicants will be automatically removed from the competition with no recourse or reimbursement.
  • No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the competition.
  • Void wherever restricted or prohibited by law. 
Timeline
Updates23

Challenge Updates

Did you miss the Winners Webinar?

Oct. 3, 2022, 2:30 p.m. PDT by Natalie York

Thank you to all those that tuned in for our Winners Webinar! If you missed it, watch below:

 


Join us for the WInners Webinar in 30 minutes!

Sept. 22, 2022, 7:30 a.m. PDT by Natalie York

A final reminder that the Winners Webinar begins in 30 minutes! Join us by registering at the link below.

Register here.


Don't miss your chance to learn more about the winning ideas!

Sept. 21, 2022, 6 a.m. PDT by Natalie York

Remember to join us tomorrow, on September 22nd at 11am ET // 5pm CET, for the Winners Webinar for the Metaverse and the Future of Flight Challenge! 

The webinar will feature panelists from Airbus and a few of the challenge awardees who will share their winning ideas!

Are there any questions you’d like Airbus or the challenge winners to answer? Drop your questions below and our webinar host, HeroX CEO, Kal Sahota, will try and get to them!

Click here to register for the webinar.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

 


And the winners are...!

Sept. 13, 2022, 10 a.m. PDT by Natalie York

First off, we’d like to thank everyone for their patience in awaiting the announcement of winners for this challenge. Judges used the extra evaluation time to explore each submission in depth and enjoyed imagining the potential of the unique and innovative ideas submitted.

After careful consideration, Airbus is thrilled to award the $30,000 prize purse to the following submissions:

$10,000 Prize

  • Airbus Square by Capgemini, from the Netherlands: This winning concept is a hub called Airbus Square that directs passengers to a virtual town square. From here, passengers can experience multiple breakouts to pass the time in a nourishing way, such as immersive sound experiences, social interaction experiences but also features which can reduce the impact of jet lag through virtual lighting cycles as well as entertainment and shopping experiences in an open virtual environment.
    • Judges were impressed with how thought out this submission was and the breadth of possibilities it allowed for. By using some of the characteristics of a Metaverse, Airbus Square is bringing into life new experiences that can be plugged in, turning the 'future of flight' into a brand-new passenger experience. Additionally, this submission gave clear consideration to the activities that are possible and practical in a cabin setting, and provided mitigation strategies for the potential impacts from prolonged AR/VR use.

$5000 Prize Each

  • Lollipopp.xyz by Silicon Harlem, from the United States: Lollipopp.xyz (referred to as Lollipop) is a blockchain-based platform with a specific focus on NFT (Non-Fungible Token) project where users can purchase a Lollipopp JPG, on Open Sea which will bring the passengers into a travel app that can be used to book, experience and celebrate travel across AR (Augmented Reality), VR ( Virtual Reality) and Metaverses.
  • Memories in the Sky by H. Dhaliwal, from Canada: This concept allows passengers to leave a memento in the sky to mark their presence, similar to locks on a bridge. Each virtual memento would have a selectable avata, picture, video, and will be placed in the sky at a location chosen while in flight. Other’s mementos and memories will be viewable by passengers on future flights while looking out of their window, on their IFE (streaming of outside view with cameras) or personal mobile device but also via their Virtual Reality headset.
  • The Airbus-verse Inflight Solution by Imersifi, from the United Kingdom: This concept is a multiplayer VR environment called Airbus-verse that facilitates entertainment, socializing, and other activities while on flight. After joining with a virtual avatar, passengers are relocated to a virtual hub where they do things like de-stress in relaxing environments, pre-shop at their destination’s duty free store, or play games with other passengers.
  • ELEVATE Metaverse by Brandon EnWezoh, from the United States: Elevate is an interactive and immersive 360-degree virtual reality environment that allows passengers to listen to music, audiobooks, podcasts, or other audio (sensory experiences) while immersing themselves in photo-realistic 3D visuals. The immersive metaverse platform is aiming at optimizing passenger comfort (flight related stress, discomfort, and/or boredom).

Airbus and HeroX would like to thank participants for their time and excitement in participating in this challenge.

See more about what Airbus has to say about the Metaverse and the Future of Flight challenge on Airbus.com.

To learn more about the winning submissions, please join us on September 22nd at 11am ET // 5pm CET for the Winners Webinar. Click here to register for the webinar.


Winners Announcement Set for September 13

Sept. 6, 2022, 12:30 p.m. PDT by Natalie York

We’re excited to update participants that judging will soon be coming to a close, and we are nearly ready to announce the awardees of the Metaverse and the Future of Flight Challenge. Awardees of the $30,000 prize purse will be announced on September 13th, 2022. Thank you to everyone for your patience and excitement regarding this announcement. 


Forum5
Teams462
Bhavin Faldu's team Bhavin Faldu's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Bintang A.S.W.A.M's team Bintang A.S.W.A.M's team
2 team members
Looking for members
team ultramax team ultramax
1 team member
Looking for members
Feng Shi's team Feng Shi's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Capgemini Capgemini
2 team members
Looking for members
Tony de Souza-Daw's team Tony de Souza-Daw's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Innoplaya powered by Starburst Innoplaya powered by Starburst
2 team members
Looking for members
Aimers Aimers
1 team member
Looking for members
Hassan Seguias's team Hassan Seguias's team
1 team member
Looking for members
PAVEL Science's team PAVEL Science's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Matthew Wellman's team Matthew Wellman's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Team Moshirekarikuru Team Moshirekarikuru
3 team members
Looking for members
Melissa Sanchez's team Melissa Sanchez's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Yash Yadav's team Yash Yadav's team
3 team members
Looking for members
Society Of Future Engineers-Embry Riddle Aero Univ Society Of Future Engineers-Embry Riddle Aero Univ
1 team member
Looking for members
Gabriel bossenberry's team Gabriel bossenberry's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Chanpion Chanpion
1 team member
Looking for members
essam kelany's team essam kelany's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Essam Kelany's team Essam Kelany's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Team POW-WOW-to-the-Downtown Team POW-WOW-to-the-Downtown
3 team members
Looking for members
SANJIT SINGH's team SANJIT SINGH's team
2 team members
Looking for members
Agnes Apio's team Agnes Apio's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Æ ROW BURST Æ ROW BURST
1 team member
Looking for members
Imersifi Imersifi
2 team members
Looking for members
sukirthan Gudivada's team sukirthan Gudivada's team
1 team member
Looking for members
TRIPNFT  team TRIPNFT team
1 team member
Looking for members
Aeroverse Aeroverse
2 team members
Looking for members
Rakesh Sharma's team Rakesh Sharma's team
1 team member
Looking for members
Shoot4Moon Shoot4Moon
3 team members
Looking for members
Abhishek Gupta's team Abhishek Gupta's team
1 team member
Looking for members
ITESM - AEM - AIRBUS  METAVERSE ITESM - AEM - AIRBUS METAVERSE
1 team member
Looking for members
The New Chromantics The New Chromantics
1 team member
Looking for members
carl aya's team carl aya's team
1 team member
Looking for members
ACC Dream Team ACC Dream Team
2 team members
Looking for members
MediboothVR Team MediboothVR Team
1 team member
Looking for members
Meta Helix Meta Helix
2 team members
Looking for members
Press
Resources
FAQ