Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FUCAM (FUture Cabin for the Asian Market)

Teaser

FUCAM set its sights on making such an idea possible by developing a conceptual cabin design for the aircraft of the future (after 2025) which differs from the worldwide standard cabin of today, tailored to the needs of the Asian market by looking first to the Japanese...

Summary

FUCAM set its sights on making such an idea possible by developing a conceptual cabin design for the aircraft of the future (after 2025) which differs from the worldwide standard cabin of today, tailored to the needs of the Asian market by looking first to the Japanese passenger.
Although FUCAM focused on the Asian market its concept relies on the idea that once the design of the human-centered passenger cabin is able to satisfy the demanding expectations of the Japanese customers, in terms, for instance, of safety, perceived quality, comfort, connectivity, time and space, it will also most likely please the customers elsewhere in the world.
Thanks to an impressive consortium bringing together a mix of expertise – nine research and industrial partners from Europe and Japan- the FUCAM project was able to successfully advance the current state of the art in cabin architecture, design and systems development so as to deliver the best cabin product which meets the needs of the East Asian flyers and becomes the basis for further future work in this orientation.
FUCAM used a multi-method approach to:
• Uncover and analyse market trends and user requirements from the airlines\' and passengers\' perspectives along with cultural factors in Japan and China, so as to be translated into inspiration for the FUCAM cabin experience.
• Scout for relevant novel and emerging technologies originating from a variety of industries and assessing them in-depth against relevance and applicability to the FUCAM cabin taking into account technical constraints and implementation to aircraft.
The FUCAM concept provides innovative seating layouts and dedicated seat solutions on main deck in combination with extra offers on lower deck. The lower deck facilities use the existing cargo space in a modular way and provide a fixed installation with lowered floor (full standing height), where restrooms and an ‘Airlounge’ is installed. Additional standard container based ‘experience modules’ can be installed and easily exchanged to adapt the lower deck experience.

Work performed

FUCAM involved several comprehensive studies and surveys for acquiring the passengers’ requirements and profiles and a further in-depth study on air transport trends, key airports, overview on airlines, challenges in the development of the air transport market, and key routes.
A series of user involvement activities accompanied by desktop research for identifying trends, cultural factors and preferences relevant for cabin design have been complemented so as to enhance the user and market understanding. Furthermore, a comprehensive database of relevant latest, emerging and soon-to-emerge technology for potential application within FUCAM cabin concepts, counting 353 items, has been compiled.
By the 36th month of the FUCAM project, the following concepts have been analysed:
Business Seat Concept
Specially designed business class seats derived from Japanese living room chairs. These seats have a lower relax seat position with a large meal and cocktail table that enables simultaneous multiple activities with a sense of quality and privacy. Passenger can work, eat, relax or take a nap thanks to the interchangeable hard and soft seat cushions.
The seat is optimized for short-mid haul flights and can be fitted to wide and narrow body aircrafts without modifications. In terms of aircraft integration, this element does not require any specific engineering efforts. The usual seat interfaces will be unchanged and provided.
Super Economy Seat Concept
Versatile compact and light-weight bench style seat that can be used by single passengers, families or provide comfort to people of stature. This wider middle seat may be occupied by three adult persons or two persons of size or even a family with two small children.
The integrated space provides a small storage space for personal belongings, which have to be accessible during flight. This concept provides increased seat pitch with measures to prevent decreasing the level of comfort. Again, in terms of aircraft integration, the standard interfaces will be usable and there is no need of a specific redesign.
Airlounge – Lower Deck “The third place experience”
The Airlounge Concept comprises a fixed installation on lower deck with separate gender lavatories, seating possibilities and possibly vending machines that can be combined with additional container modules to increase the passenger capacity of the lounge and provide catering and experience features for retail, relax, work, or gaming. Various business scenarios for sharing the space have been developed.
Immersive Retail Experience Modules
The Retail Module is offered to facilitate on-board brand engagement and shopping.
Going beyond current offers of in-flight beverage and drink purchases, it offers the opportunity to connect with the brand through an immersive experience as well as browse and pre-order from a vast selection of goods and services (clothing, shoes, taxi, car rentals, hotels or other accommodation, baggage service, spa treatments), to be delivered at the destination airport, hotel, or elsewhere during one\'s further trip.
Retail Module facilitates added benefits from co-branding between the airline and a particular goods supplier, to offer the passenger access to the exclusive content that directly or indirectly promotes the sale of these goods and allows creating direct revenues from a larger amount of ancillary revenues.

Final results

General impact
The main impact of FUCAM is the end users’ satisfaction so as to eventually develop the best cabin product meeting the needs and requirements of the Asian market. Some essential aspects, such as accessibility, safety, comfort, connectivity from point to point and availability of new contents and services (mails, internet, films, etc.) have been addressed during the collection of passengers’ requirements, with the aim to introduce these innovations to the market.

Technology Impact
The FUCAM project will contribute to mature the level of readiness of the cabin technologies and concepts, thus enlarging the scientific impact for the participants and for the wider community in Europe and Japan. Therefore, the ultimate technological goal of FUCAM is to raise the TRL level of the selected future cabin concept for Asia from TRL1 to TRL3.

Business Impact
The joint work between Europe and Japan within the FUCAM project produced a very significant leverage effect for the business of the partners on both sides. Addressing the Asian markets with a dedicated product will certainly increase the airlines’ and passengers’ customer satisfaction, and thus increase sales and market shares for both the aircraft manufacturer (OEM) and the cabin equipment suppliers.
For the European members, working with Japanese partners will surely open the doors to new high growth markets thanks to a better knowledge of the Asian environment, and thanks to a better tailoring of the product to these markets.

Open Knowledge Impact
From the Knowledge side, the cultural analysis to be performed by the academic partner will increase the understanding on the Japanese and Asian culture, to the benefit of a wider European and Japanese community. Likewise, the methodology developed for the ideation and creation of the cabin concepts will become a standard that could later be applied to other products and markets beyond Asia.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.fucam-project.eu.