Ever been at an airport, sitting in the departure lounge sending a few emails or browsing the web, when suddenly the power bar on the laptop or mobile starts looking uncomfortably low?
Many people start scurrying around, looking for a power supply before the device dies. It’s an increasingly common problem for so-called always connected traveller.
Step forward AirportPlugs, a new website which indicates via a series of images where each plug socket is located in a particular area in a terminal.
It’s a very good – and incredibly useful – idea, giving passengers an idea of where they should be heading to get some juice back in their devices.
In its current guise AirportPlugs is a Beta community project, focusing on a few airports in the US and urging users to upload their own pictures into the database.
“The next time you are sitting around waiting for a flight, take some pictures, draw a sketch of the plug and locations and send it off to AirportPlugs, or paste their icons on your photo and send it in.”
Unlike many startups, AirportPlugs actually solves a problem that exists for thousands of passengers every time they enter an airport.
But where could the idea goes next? Augmented reality is one answer.
Many still question if augmented reality, at least in the examples developed so far in travel, is nothing more than gimmick to show how clever the tech-heads are in a company.
Does it really help the traveller? Arguably not.
So imagine being in an airport, running low on battery power, but being able to quickly open an application on the mobile which shows the user via an augmented reality overlay through the device’s camera where each power source is located?
Now that would be very helpful indeed.
Related posts:
About Kevin May
great idea that will just provoke aiports into finding a way of charging (pun intended) for access to power. I have noticed how many have *blocked’ sockets the casual user cannot access. The better ones provide well signed FREE charging points.
@sceptical corporate traveller – yeah! A new ancillary revenue stream
I have never had a problem finding an electrical socket. Electrical codes usually require an electrical socket every few feet. A passenger with a long time between flights should look for that electrical socket before their device tells them that the battery is running low. In my opinion, this is not a problem.