Digital Butterflies Eases Air Rage At Amsterdam Airport

AMSTERDAM AIRPORT’S MIXED REALITY LOUNGE [PICS]

By Dave Pinter on June 23, 2011

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Travelers passing through Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport who are feeling nature deprived now have place within the airport to do some reconnecting. Airport Park is a new park-themed destination within the terminal where travelers can relax, work, eat or just get some fresh air. The indoor section of the Park features a lounge, cafe and retail shop. An adjacent outdoor terrace features a planter garden and lounge seating including club chairs made of wire mesh which ivy will eventually cover.

Inside, the park is punctuated with tree trunks, green walls and seating with integrated landscaping. Technology is used to create what the airport is calling a ‘mixed reality’. Projections and audio are used throughout the interior featuring butterflies, nature sounds, and cyclists to add to the immersing character of the space. Travelers looking for a bit of exercise can recharge their mobile phones via one of the electricity generating stationary bikes.

With the idea of trying to ease this strife, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport just opened their brand new Airport Park, a park-themed area for travelers to relax, work, eat or simply hang around, enjoying some fresh-air before departure. Once beyond passport control, passengers will now be able to spend their time at the airport in a surprising area. Travelers can even step outside to enjoy the sunshine on the terrace. The park is a collection of different spots, indoor and outdoor. Between the green colors, plants and sitting elements all kinds of natural elements are brought in such as ivy plants and tree trunks, of which one of them is even 130 years old. The park feeling comes to life through mixed reality. With projections of butterflies, sounds of animals and cyclists, you feel like being in a lively urban park. There are pictures on the walls of famous parks in the world. As in those parks, Airport Park will be a beacon of peace in a noisy environment.

At several places travelers will find spots to sit, relax and work a bit. Wireless Internet is available and at the bar fresh juices, fair trade coffee and all kind of organic food is being served. Passengers will also find several sustainable applications in the park. For example, you can recharge your mobile phone by hopping on one of the bicycles that are used to generate energy. LED lighting is used wherever possible and sunshine and daylight enter the park through tube lighting and fiber optics cables.

Airport Park is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s answer to the traveler’s need for a place to relax or work in a green environment, and contributes to Schiphol’s ambition of being Europe’s Preferred Airport. This last ambition must also been seen in the context of a changing role that Schiphol Airport has in an international rat-race for flying passengers. Hub airports are facing heavy weather since direct flights are an increasing trend in the airline business. People prefer direct flights also to the smaller airports. This means that airports like Schiphol, with 41% of transfer flights have to be increasingly attractive to keep the lucrative tax-free shopping transfer travelers on board. Since the Royal Dutch Airline (KLM) has fallen into French hands (Air France), the future of Schiphol as transfer airport is even more insecure. Schiphol apparently finds an interesting target group in working nomads, business travelers and sustainable health addicts. Airport Park is located beyond passport control in Lounge 1, above Pier D.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/06/amsterdams-new-airport-park-pics.html#ixzz1QsACvfVG