Accessible aircraft seat and console controls for passengers with disabilities through mobile devices

Abstract

People with disabilities usually face difficulties during travel in aircrafts. Among these difficulties, there are limitations while seated during the journey. The seat and console controls may be hard to reach and use or not accessible at all. Considering the trend of airliners to allow the usage of wireless devices during flights, personal mobile devices become an option for improving comfort and creating a better experience for passengers with disabilities. This paper presents a proposal for accessible aircraft seat and console controls through the use of personal mobile devices wirelessly connected to the aircraft's systems. It describes a conceptual prototype with twelve basic functions that allows the use of the in-flight entertainment (IFE) controls, the seat controls and the console above the seat through passenger's own mobile device.