Qantas partners with Samsung for a first class virtual reality experience

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Qantas and Samsung Australia are trialling a new in-flight entertainment service using the Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset.

The trial period will see the Samsung Gear VR headset — which uses the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone to provide both the viewing screen and processing power — available in select first class cabins on A380s of the Australian airline, as well as in its Sydney and Melbourne International First Class Lounges.

The three month trial will showcase VR information regarding destinations, as well as new Qantas products and “the latest in-flight blockbuster movies”.

Olivia Wirth, group executive of brand, marketing and corporate affairs at Qantas called the service “a fantastic tool to feature our network’s destinations, inspiring travel and promoting tourism.”

“From an in-flight entertainment perspective, it’s an industry first,” said Wirth.

Qantas will work with virtual reality production company Jaunt to create content, including destination footage. Tourism NT, the promotional body for Australia’s Northern Territory, will be the first partner for tourism content creation, with a “special 3D experience” from Kakadu National Park.

Visitors to the Melbourne and Sydney First Class Lounges will see the Gear VR in action from mid-February, with the first class in-flight service beginning from mid-March on select journeys of the A380 service from Sydney to Los Angeles.