Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Google
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Newsvine
RedditCockpit and cabin for Eclipse Aviation
CloseVery light jets (VLJs), with such innovative capabilities as short runway take-offs and a 370-knot cruising speed, are expected to significantly change the way people travel. At the forefront of this change is Eclipse Aviation, whose jets defy the old rules of hub-and-spoke air travel. To solidify its position at the forefront of lightweight aviation innovation, Eclipse approached IDEO to design an interior space for the Eclipse 500 jet.
IDEO's team of human factors specialists, industrial designers, and mechanical engineers began looking at ways to maximize the space and provide intuitive interactions for pilots and passengers. Working alongside pilots, aircraft owners, and potential Eclipse 500 buyers, they began to understand that while functions and requirements differ between cockpit and cabin, both zones can embrace a common design theme.
The resulting solution minimizes visual clutter and superfluous details, creating an interior that is at once user-friendly and elegant, simple but purposeful. The Eclipse 500's cockpit features a harmonized instrument panel to reduce complexity, military-style sidestick control, and LED lighting.
Using full-scale prototypes and real flight times, IDEO utilized a number of methods to design the configuration of the cabin. Designers leveraged the interior geometry, a variety of materials, and clever lighting to create spaciousness within the compact space. Amenities such as a custom-designed in-flight entertainment, refreshment center, and roll-away lavatory all enhance the jet's commuter-friendly visage.
Despite an initial 2,500 orders for the Eclipse 500 jet, production was halted in mid-2008 due to a lack of funding. Difficulties in the economy and the aviation market forced the company into bankruptcy in November 2008.
Cockpit and cabin for Eclipse Aviation for Eclipse Aviation
Designing for a new category of air travel
Eclipse Aviation, a US-based company at the forefront of very light jet technology, asked IDEO to design a cockpit and cabin configuration for the Eclipse 500 jet. IDEO convened a multidisciplinary team, along with pilots, aircraft owners, and potential Eclipse 500 buyers, to better understand the spatial restrictions and interaction needs of pilots and passengers. The resulting design eliminated visual clutter in an elegant and user-friendly interior, and employed technologies such as a military-style sidestick control and harmonized instrument panel.
[+]Since 9/11, point-to-point air taxi service in the US has increased in popularity, favored by on-the-go business travelers. (Avionics)
Awards
2007 Bottom Line Design Award
2007 Catalyst, Honorable Mention
2007 IDEA Gold, Research
2007 IDEA Gold, Interaction Design
2007 IDEA Silver, Transportation
In the Press
"The Eclipse: Safety by Design"
Pilot friendliness means pilot safety, so this aviation company hired designers from IDEO to design the flight deck for its SUV-sized jet...
[Read more at Businessweek.com]
Inspiration & Influence
Luxury car interiors informed the jet’s elegant, user-friendly seating configurations and lighting in the cockpit and cabin zones.
