External Cameras Give Passengers a Bird’s-Eye View of the World Below

A French company has developed technology that will allow passengers to get a real-time perspective on the world outside of their cabin.

A Bordeaux-based startup has created a vision system that gives passengers the chance to glimpse the world outside of their cabin in real-time. The system, which features externally-mounted cameras placed on the body of an aircraft, was created by Otonomy Aviation.

These cameras capture video from the outside of the plane and feed the data back to internal monitors for passengers’ viewing pleasure. While the idea sounds relatively simple, in developing their system, Otonomy had to ensure that the design could meet stringent airline regulations and be able to withstand the wildly fluctuating conditions outside of the cabin.

Subject to these restrictions and unable to use prefabricated cameras in their system, Otonomy sourced their components from German image processing company FRAMOS, which provided lenses and image sensors specifically suited to poor lighting conditions.

In a statement, Emmanuel Maridor, Managing Director FRAMOS France, explained that this sensor “is noted for its high resolution, HD ability and excellent reliability … it is especially designed for applications in difficult lighting conditions and reduces image noise through automatic black level calibration.”

Guillaume Daudon, founder of Otonomy, added that “customers are very happy with the image quality,” explaining that while the real-time video is currently fed into monitors inside the plane, there are plans afoot to also stream it to passengers’ mobile devices.

Although this technology is currently employed by a number of aircraft manufacturers, for the moment, this amenity is in-use only on business jets. Scenic views aside, Otonomy is looking to expand its horizons and is keen to apply this real-time technology to the aviation security industry.

[Photo: FRAMOS]