Personalizing a connected flight experience

How might digital intelligence benefit travelers, crew and operations in aircraft cabin environments?

Over the past five years, Big Dreams has partnered with Collins Aerospace to conceptualize, design and produce key elements of the MAYA™ concept business class seat: the ADAPT™ user interface that supports passenger experience, and the Galley.ai system that enhances crew efficiency and passenger communication by using AI-driven galley management and sensor systems to streamline service delivery.

The resulting work has won two Crystal Cabin Awards and one honorable mention at the annual Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany.

Start with the Why

When Collins invited us to envision the possibilities in a digitally-enabled cabin environment, we worked jointly to define a product & service strategy with distinct value propositions for passengers, crew and maintenance. By focusing on human benefits first we were able to gain clarity on the Why, which in turn gave purpose and reason to the What and the How that technology could solve. These static concept representations were used as a north star to gain stakeholder alignment on vision, gather input requirements and coordinate resources to initiate development.

Make to learn

Big Dreams led an iterative design process supported by research and feedback to help Collins evolve the technology solutions in concert with other cabin interior components as an integrated ecosystem. Our initial work used scenario-based storytelling and interface design to prototype use cases for InteliSence™, an AI/ML system that anticipates passenger needs in real time. A functional prototype of this system won a 2024 Crystal Cabin Award in the passenger comfort category.

In the next version we dove deeper into personalization of the passenger experience through the ADAPT™ system, empowering travelers to enjoy a range of mobility, sensory, cognitive and language accommodations through this platform. At this stage we partnered with the Institute for Human Centered Design to provide subject matter expertise on inclusive design and accessibility of the user interface. They helped the us go deeper, beyond baseline legibility standards, to consider issues of cognitive complexity, the effects of color and lighting on stress management, and practical implementation of American Sign Language interpretation. John Morris, accessible travel advocate and founder of wheelchairtravel.org, advised on designing solutions for scenarios that matter most to people with mobility issues and age related difficulties, where digital systems can support physical service delivery. The result of this work garnered Honorable Mention at the 2024 Aircraft Interiors Expo.

Expand and integrate

Our latest version, Collins Aerospace galley.ai, further enhances crew efficiency and passenger communication by using AI-driven galley management and sensor systems to streamline onboard meal service preparation, monitor equipment safety and maintenance issues, and improve overall flight experiences.

"We're essentially creating an intelligent assistant that works alongside cabin crew to streamline their most demanding tasks," explains Jeff McKee, who leads the Customer Experience Design group. "The goal is to create a smoother and more effective work environment for crew."

We partnered with OCTO Product Development to build a functioning prototype that integrates galley equipment, crew tools, and cabin interfaces, along with the passenger communication platform. The system tracks orders and inventory in real time, enables dynamic service updates, and provides direct information to passengers throughout the flight. Galley.ai won the 2025 Cystal Cabin Award in the cabin technologies category.

“The jury was particularly impressed by the ability of galley.ai to integrate multiple information streams, system modules and components, harnessing AI in a way that lowers crew workload.” — Angus Baigent, Crystal Cabin Award

Client: Collins Aerospace Customer Experience Design

Team: Kit Son Lee, Phoenix Gao, Arvind Ballamudi, Jae Yoon Myung, Laila Aukee, Jack Lenk, Nick Scappaticci

Partners: Octo Product Development, Braden Franklin, F1V