Imagine traveling on an aeroplane without windows. You cannot look out. It will be perpetually dark inside the cabin with no natural light. Your worst nightmare? Not quite.
Now imagine flying past the world’s tallest building and hearing the pilot say that those of you on the left of the plane can look out to see Burj Khalifa. If you are seated on the right of the aircraft you peer across the aisle to catch a glimpse of the impressive structure. And you wish you were seated on the other side.
Now go back to the windowless plane. At the UK based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), scientists and engineers are developing ultra-flexible, high-definition display technologies that could line the interior walls of cabins and display live footage from external cameras.
Now imagine flying past the world’s tallest building in a windowless aircraft. You can project the image of what is outside your window – or the window on the other side – on the giant OLED screens which are on the side of the plane. You can even project the view from the cockpit camera.
The windowless plane is still on the drawing boards and may not see commercial deployment any time soon. But that is where technology is headed.