Qantas is introducing a new feature for passengers taking “ultra-long haul flights” that aims to prevent jet lag. More than 150 hours of testing went into creating 12 unique lighting scenes inspired by the Australian landscape which have been designed to improve passenger wellbeing. The process involved the testing of hundreds of lighting patterns and sequences in an Airbus A350 cabin mock-up in a collaboration between representatives from Qantas, Airbus, the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Caon Design Office in Hamburg.
Using modelling of circadian rhythms, the Charles Perkins Centre advised on the best “spectral irradiances” to help travellers adjust to new time zones, fall asleep and wake up. The trial has produced 12 lighting scenes, including three called “awake”, “sunset” and “sunrise”. “Awake” will help travellers stay awake and adjust to their destinations time zone through “broad spectrum blue-enriched lighting”, with a softer version available for cabin crew to select based on “cabin mood”.
“Sunset” will relax and prepare customers for sleep through an “immersive” shift from daytime mode to dark mode with a transition between the colours of a sunset into a night sky fit moonlight and a “slow cloud effect”. A “sunrise” lighting scene will replicate an Australian sunrise rolling from the front of the cabin to the rear to help transition travellers from night to day. Welcome and farewell lighting scene.