Starting at the John F. Kennedy airport in New York, you may start seeing self-driving electric wheelchairs zipping past in airports. British Airways has announced it is testing autonomous electric wheelchairs at JFK. It hopes to help passengers around the world that have mobility needs and find it difficult getting around airports.
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The new electric wheelchairs have anti-collision technology, very similar to what autonomous vehicles on the roads are utilising. It is also capable of automatically navigating the airport, and presumably each particular airport’s layout and terminal structures can be uploaded and utilise the same technology to navigate those airports as well.
You will also be able to go to specific places around the terminals before needing to go the gate. You’re able to programme certain locations via the display built into the wheelchair. After dropping you off at the correct departure gate, the wheelchair automatically goes back to its docking station where the next passenger can pick it up.
This specific design first showed up at CES 2018, released by Whill, that they called the Model Ci. At that point Whill said that the wheelchair will cost around $4,000, which is presumably what British Airport needed to invest to get the testing going.
British Airways has said that it will continue the test at JFK in conjunction with another one it will run at Heathrow Airport in London, its main hub. While we’re not sure how much it has invested in this trial specifically, it forms part of a $8.3 million effort to improve its customer experience.
As mobility technology expands we will start seeing more of these autonomous vehicles pop up in various places, like train stations and shopping malls. It might prove an important exercise to test the technology of autonomous cars in a setting with lesser stakes if something goes wrong.
