Your World Today

Coming back to Canada after the holidays is a nightmare for me. With 3 scheduled stops before reaching Halifax, long layovers, and constant flight delays at each stop due to weather conditions, you can imagine how bad the jet lag will be.

So here I am blogging, laying down in a comfy bed, listening to Bach softly playing in the background, and engulfed in mood lighting to ensure my recovery. No… I’m not home. I’m in a Napcab.

Napcabs are the latest innovation in airport relaxation from Germany. They are fully automated private pods or ‘cab’ins scattered around the airport ready to receive a weary traveler and his credit card.

For as little as 15 Euros per hour, you can have this private piece of paradise all to yourself. A Siemens press release describes it best:

“Since the summer of 2008, Terminal 2 at the Munich Airport has offered the first napcabs, mini-sleep-and-work cabins designed by students of TU Munich for air travelers from around the world. napcab cabins measure four square meters in size and have a comfortable bed, a desk with electrical outlets and Internet access as well as a variety of entertainment and wellness services – an invitation to sleep, work or relax. A lighting concept from Osram, consisting of the light control system EASY Color Control and LED LINEARlight modules, provides the right atmosphere. It offers different lighting moods suited to various activities. napcab users can choose light for working or relaxing simply by tapping a touch panel.”

Napcabs were developed by five students for the 2007 Innovation Competition held by Technical University of Munich. There are currently two of these little working and sleeping cabins located on level H at Gate H32, but more are planned.

My only beef is that internet access was promised in the package, but the LAN cable provided in the room yielded no connection. I ended up connecting to the T-Mobile wireless service available in the airport for 8 Euros per hour.

Overall, and as a first time user, I can tell you that the experience is superb! There should be more of these in every airport. I think these will do great in Canada, specially in the winter with flight cancellations and long delays being a common occurrence.

Napcabs is seeking investors who want to introduce the cabins in airports in their countries or anywhere around the world. Any takers?

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