Panasonic Avionics has marked the two-year anniversary of the launch of Arc, its 3D inflight moving map platform, by unveiling a range of new and upcoming features.
Since its debut two years ago at Aircraft Interiors Expo 2019, Arc has experienced one of the highest adoption rates of any Panasonic Avionics digital service, with confirmed orders with 17 airlines globally on over 300 aircraft, according to the company.
Commenting on the occasion, vice-president of digital solutions at Panasonic Avionics Andrew Mohr said: “Airline adoption of Arc has been beyond our initial expectations. Our airline customers have responded positively to the new value streams we’re bringing to the inflight map experience. These include sophisticated design, innovative new features and the cross-leverage with our other inflight entertainment and communications services, including new monetisation opportunities.
“With Arc, we are enabling airlines to utilise inflight maps as a primary tool for customer engagement and service. Its rapid adoption highlights the importance these new approaches represent to our customers.”
Catering for the younger traveller
Panasonic Avionics has also launched the first new round of Arc features, including Arc for Young Explorers and OneMedia integration. Arc for Young Explorers is the first in a series of features targeted at young travellers. It brings them back in time and enables them to fly and explore the world as a Jurassic-era flying dinosaur. Points of interest are replaced by oversized dinosaurs, revealing trivia, fun facts, and animations about the giant beasts that roamed the earth millions of years ago. Bright, cheerful colours and imaginations of prehistoric sounds and movement fill the screen.
Arc’s integration with OneMedia enables it to act as a new medium for monetisation through its alignment with Panasonic Avionics’ inflight advertising platform. It creates new advertising inventory across the wide range of Arc’s map views and tie-ins to cross-IFE advertising campaigns.
In addition to these new releases, Panasonic Avionics is in the process of rolling out the new Arc Studio map designer’s tool. Arc Studio gives airlines direct control over a wide range of map features and content. It enables them to modify point-of-interest data and layers, map script configurations to add or modify media and promotional campaigns, along with the ability to deploy changes directly to their aircraft.
Mohr added: “Arc Studio gives inflight maps the flexibility and longevity expected of today’s digital solutions. It puts Arc at the service of the airline to employ as a promotional tool, enabling them to create unique designs and configurations that can be deployed on a per flight or route basis. Airlines can easily leverage Arc to execute their overall IFEC value strategies.
“We have designed Arc as a flexible, creative and evolutionary platform, and are developing further enhancements which we will be unveiling in the months ahead.”
In April, Panasonic announced that it had been selected by US airline JetBlue for its live sports inflight offering on the carrier’s Airbus A321 Long Range aircraft. This offering will expand JetBlue’s transatlantic inflight entertainment options to include one channel of live sports, Sport 24, with satellite-based streaming facilitated by the airline’s connectivity provider.
