PARTNER FEATURE: Panasonic Business will introduce its connected airport concept at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, showcasing a suite of intelligent technology solutions for the first time in Europe.

The 120m2 booth features technology for retail, car rental, communications, security, logistics and ground handling, and brings together the automotive, business technology, industrial and eco solutions divisions within Panasonic.

One of the key technologies on show will be LinkRay (see photo below), a one-to-one customer engagement tool for public spaces. It means dozens of people can simultaneously get native language information from display panels and LED lighting to their smartphone. Embedded LinkRay technology would mean that display panels in an airport could contain links to transport information in multiple languages.

Also on show will be HD Beacon technology, which can assist localised mapping and way-finding within the terminal buildings at an airport. So, for instance, airport staff or people with limited mobility could use their mobile device to find the nearest electric cart to get them quickly to their gate.

For airport retail, Panasonic will showcase its digital glass solution, which uses projection to create spectacular window displays to pull in shoppers.

In the car rental area of the booth, Ficosa, in which Panasonic took a 49 per cent stake in 2015, will introduce its connected vehicle solutions. This will allow airport vehicles to communicate with infrastructure and allow access to systems and even prevent expensive collisions with aircraft.

Within the airport logistics hub area, Panasonic’s Parcel Picking Director uses barcode technology to project key parcel information onto parcels themselves, making it viewable by workers at a distance.

Panasonic Media Track allows organisations to track and optimise the deployment of mobile assets such as baggage containers, trolleys and wagons, making it perfect for ground handling operations. While Intelligent Warehouse Software (iWS) uses CCTV cameras and software to find lost parcels or luggage in minutes, rather than hours spent manually searching through security footage.

“We know that our connected, intelligent technology solutions are well matched for the transportation market,” said Tony O’Brien, MD of Panasonic System Solutions in Europe. “Our research tells us that improving the passenger journey through better connectivity and information sharing is an important driver in this space and Mobile World Congress gives us the opportunity to showcase what Panasonic can do to innovate within transportation.”

For more information on Panasonic’s business products, please visit the Panasonic stand at Mobile World Congress, Hall 6 Booth H31.

Connectivity the key to smart journeys
A new whitepaper from Panasonic Business and Mobile World Live highlights the importance of connectivity in the passenger journey within transportation.

The report, ‘Passenger experience: It’s all about connectivity’, looks at how, by analysing big data, providers are able to revolutionise the business of transporting people and create a more personalised, engaging experience for customers.

The report says that the connectivity is now in place and the data exists to enable this, but many operators are unsure how to collate, analyse and act on this information.

“The information needed to unlock the knowledge to offer the complete connected travel experience is located in a number of places and gathered by a number of parties – the key is to collate this to get a seamless picture and then deploy the technology to take full advantage of it,” said Tony O’Brien, MD of Panasonic System Solutions in Europe.

“Airlines have invested in collating and assessing data from the connected journey for several years and other industries – especially rail – can learn a lot from some of the techniques adopted by the more advanced carriers.”

The whitepaper also highlights some of the technologies which are already adopted by airports and airlines and which are enabling this connectivity transformation.

Potential benefits include greater communication with passengers, improved branding, new sales opportunities and a revolution in customer service.

The whitepaper is available to download here.