If you travel frequently for work or pleasure, chances are that your luggage has been lost at least once! You know how it goes, you are standing there at the luggage pick-up area and looking for your bag – and it never comes. You begin to feel a rush of panic take over your body as you realize that the beautiful souvenirs you purchased for family and friends, the expensive jewelry and makeup, and your favorite outfit are now all lost forever in the doomed pit of lost luggage.
Well fear no more, because your luggage can now talk to you via text message. “Smart luggage,” which has a GPS tracking chip embedded within each bag, is now capable of communicating its location to travelers and even alerting airlines directly when it gets lost. Eventually, your luggage might be working directly with the airlines’ IT system to coordinate delivery to your hotel or home.
Last year jumbo jet maker Airbus introduced their idea for smart luggage, at a Paris Air Show. Their product, called Bag2Go, has a tracking device that can be connected to your smart phone through an app. But that isn’t all this product offers! It also makes check-ins easier with a self-service function and can also weigh itself to ensure that it meets the airlines weight requirements.
Airbus can’t ignore its current competition though. AT&T also has a similar concept in mind. They are currently working on a design that involves an attachable tag or something that can be built directly into suitcases. AT&T revealed their product concept at their “next-generation technologies” event in May, 2014.
Smart luggage is still in the beginning phases of development and also is still awaiting federal regulator approval. But one thing is for sure, Airbus will gain a handful of forever grateful customers.
According to government statistics, “U.S. airlines mishandled over 141,000 bags in April or about three bags for every 1,000 passengers.” Now that equals ALOT of unhappy and frustrated customers. With smart luggage we can now imagine a world where luggage can always be located – even if it still gets lost. And for that, we have technology to thank.
Just sync your phone with your luggage and get a message like this, “Help! I’m lost in LAX Airport!”
Image: Techspot.com
Source: CNN.com