Scotland’s Glasgow Airport, which is managed and operated by AGS Airports, is collaborating with Connected Places Catapult to trial accessibility technology as part of the Connected Airport Living Lab programme.
The Scottish hub has one of the highest percentages of ‘people with disabilities and reduced mobility’ (PRM) passengers of any UK airport. Last year it welcomed more than 110,000 PRM passengers and received the Civil Aviation Authority’s highest ‘Very Good’ rating in their Annual Accessibility Report.
In line with the collaboration, a group of innovators will join the airport’s accessibility team, user research specialists from Connected Places Catapult, and inclusive research agency Open Inclusion in the terminal to run a series of live trials over two days. They will capture participants’ interatctions with the technologies and gather feedback as to how users responde. Ultimately the aim is to generate insights that will aid the development of the solutions and help set these businesses up for future success.
Gazooky Studios is one of the companies invited to trial its technologies. ChapARone is an instant messaging service using AI and Augmented Reality to aid disabled passengers. The system allows transport hubs to upload information and direct it to a network of accessible-QR coded info points.
Meanwhile, Hello Lamp Post powers AI digital assistants for any public place, accessible via location-specific QR codes, enabling 24/7 communication and assistance. The technology streamlines passenger support, airport navigation and wayfinding information to enhance passenger experiences.
To assist deaf passengers, Signapse provides automatic sign language announcements using the latest AI techniques and is available in both Btitish and American sign language.
Finally, signly offers sign language translations in British, American, Irish and German Sign Language that are already recorded, making websites or airport information more accessible on smartphones through QR codes and helping passengers who use sign language access information better.
Commenting on the technology trials, Ronald Leitch, Interim Chief Operating Officer at AGS Airports said: “We are incredibly proud of the service we provide to the tens of thousands of special assistance passengers who travel through our terminals each year.
“The technological advancements we’re seeing today in areas such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality could play a key role in how we improve these vital services and further enhance the customer experience.”
He added: “Air travel should rightly be for everyone and thankfully more and more people who need additional support are choosing to fly. The technologies being demonstrated during these trials will hopefully enable and embolden even more special assistance passengers to travel.”
