Modernizing in-flight entertainment: From physical workflows to SaaS with AI/ML

Getting in-flight entertainment (IFE) in front of customers currently relies on a physical studio-to-screen supply chain. This largely manual work is based on fragmented and outdated technology, is prone to human error, and ultimately has established an inefficient ecosystem. Airlines and content service providers are forced to use this unnecessarily slow and expensive process to obtain and prepare content for passenger streaming.

With no holistic solution available, we identified ways to innovate improvements.

We’re working with Touch Inflight Solutions, a leading content service provider, to offer a secure SaaS platform named ABOVE. The on-demand content processing and delivery solution leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) to transform legacy practices with cloud efficiencies and economies of scale. ABOVE’s modern supply chain enables automation and greatly reduces content turnaround time, all the while lowering costs.

Taking advantage of AI/ML technologies

Switching to cloud infrastructure creates opportunities for IFE innovation. We’re working with AWS to utilize their Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Rekognition tools to further decrease costs and turnaround time as well as opening monetization options.

Here are just a few of the AI/ML assisted features we’re implementing this year.

Avoid human error with quality control automation

Preparing IFE content is currently susceptible to human error. For example, airlines can receive content titles containing a different airline’s watermark leading to delays. To combat this, media assets undergo manual watermark reviews. We instead use automated text detection to ensure content delivered has the correct watermark to avoid this mistake in the first place and to remove a physical QC step.

Similar issues occur with audio and subtitles. Instead of manual assessment, automation can be used to detect if language labels are accurate and if tracks are lip-synced correctly.

Create advertising opportunities

We’re adding the ability to analyze video content for monetization insights. For example, identifying specific objects within scenes can be used as cues to help airlines advertise. Perhaps an exciting high-speed chase triggers a car commercial. Or maybe a soft drink appears on screen that can be bought on board. AI/ML can also be used to help determine appropriate ad breaks.

Studio approved cloud security

Security is a primary concern through each step of our technology. ABOVE is built on our studio approved Video Toolkit processing platform. Content is protected along its entire journey from studios, during processing, and when delivered to aircraft servers. The deep level of security we enable is what allows cloud efficiencies to be realized today for IFE.

What customers are saying

“IFE is a key component in the passenger experience and getting entertainment in front of customers has traditionally been more challenging than it should be. ABOVE’s standards-based approach reduces costs and complexity, facilitates automation, and crucially enables much faster content delivery to aircraft worldwide with best-in-class studio recognized security.”

Michael Childers – Chief Consultant, Content and Media Strategy at Lufthansa Systems

Contact us today

Speak with us to learn more about how we can help improve your passenger entertainment workflows.