Connecting Seats
KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines
Issue 46 | April 2018
Agency
DDB & Tribal Amsterdam
Creative Team
Concept: Gijs Sluijters, Joris Tol, Ed van Bennekom, Jasper Diks Strategy: Ralf Hesen Agency Producer: Sophie van Pelt, Jolijn de Visser Business Director: Esther te Pas Client: Marit Badia Hilligehekken, Natascha van Roode
Production Team
Production Company: In Case of Fire Director: Collin Huijser Producer: Arjan Oosterveer Lighting Cam. Man/D.O.P.: Joris Bulstra Off-line edit: In Case of Fire (Kim Hinrichs, Taco Arts) On-line edit: The Compound (Tim van Paassen) Sound Studio : Loudness (Jaap Waaijer) Music: Massive Music Model Maker: Frolic (technic), Peter Bot (Chairs)
Date
December 2017
Background
KLM's Connecting Seats translate every language in real time, so people with different cultures, world views and languages can understand each other.
In this season of togetherness, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines gave travellers on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol an opportunity never seen before: to talk to every person in their own language.
Idea
Together with advertising agency DDB & Tribal Amsterdam, KLM created 'KLM's Connecting Seats': two seats that translate every language in real time. The seats were equipped with built-in speakers, a directional microphone and hardware connected to Google Cloud's Speech API, Translation API and Web Speech API. Just sit down, the seat recognizes your language, and you're ready to go!
Bringing people together for Christmas
Airports can be lonely places. Especially when you are traveling around Christmas time; a time for sharing, unity and togetherness. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is in the business of bringing people together. It unites families, friends and other relations all over the world. After the massively successful 'Bonding Buffet' event at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol last year, KLM once again set out to create a memorable experience that unites travellers on the road.
The Connecting Seats did not only entice travellers to share personal anecdotes and Christmas wishes. Their curiosity yielded some warm and emotional chats in which participants exchanged their views on the world. Ultimately, travellers from over 30 different nationalities put their phones or books aside and opened up to each other.
The Connecting Seats
The seats were specially designed for busy travellers on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. After setting up the conversation by selecting their languages, it was not necessary to press any other buttons. With the use of Google Cloud's Speech API, Translation API and Web Speech API, the seat worked automatically.