Sleepbox tops ‘Shark Tank’ contest of airport innovations
Naptime unit ties baggage tracker for overall honors
It had all the makings of a reality television program.
Industrious entrepreneurs brought ideas they were certain should be on the market, then an expert panel peppered them with probing questions. Everything from biometrics, robots and autonomous transportation to new screening technologies was on the agenda last month in Seattle at a gathering of industry leaders that included airport employees with the word “innovation” in their job titles.
The Airport Innovation Forum, organized by the American Association of Airport Executives, capped off with a Shark Tank-style competition in which five start-ups competed for a spot in the Airport Market Match program.
I was part of a panel of judges that included innovation experts from Microsoft and Amazon and an aviation industry insider. After we grilled the contestants for details on their business plans, it was up to forum attendees using an instant electronic polling system to choose the winners.
Competing ideas included an app designed to help visually impaired travelers navigate airports (Loud Steps), a mobile app to monetize passenger loyalty (Venuetize) and a platform that analyzes mobile device location data for insights on passenger behavior (Kiana Analytics).
The two (tied) winners were Bellevue, Wash.-based Alitheon, a company whose proprietary computer technology can very accurately and securely authenticate, track, trace and monitor baggage without the need for bar codes, tags or RFID chips, and the passenger-friendly “sleep vending machines” created by Bostonbased Sleepbox.
Airport operators and security teams will be most interested in the technological services of contest winner Alitheon, but being able to grab a bit of shut-eye when you’re stuck at the airport ranks high on most every traveler’s wish list.
The self-contained, plug-in Sleepbox units are just as their name describes: efficiently designed 45-square-foot boxes with a window to the outside and, inside, a bed, storage space for carry-on luggage, a wireless stereo system, fold-down work table, wall mirror, lighting and electrical outlets. Units come in three sizes: basic (“InnerSpace”), single or double.
“We think we have a solution that can eliminate one of the worst airport experiences,” said Peter Chambers, Sleepbox chief operating officer and co-founder.
The original design called for the unit to have self-changing sheets after each use. Although Chambers still likes that idea, the current design has an attendant doing cleanup duty.
Positive reaction media coverage in response to a prototype Sleepbox set up for three months in 2011 at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow and success with a hotel-use setup in Stockholm convinced the creators they had a good idea.
Prices and stay requirements vary for each style of napping nook, but travelers will find sleeping cabins by NapCabs in Munich Airport and Berlin-Tegel Airport in Germany, Minute Suites — equipped with daybed sofas and work tables — in Philadelphia International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Chambers said there’s room for the Sleepbox concept in the airport (and hotel) napping market in the USA, and the company recently presented its proposal to install Sleepbox units at a major U.S. hub.