AIR FRANCE SHOWCASES TECH INNOVATION AT 2015 MAKER FAIRE
First and only airline to have presence at the event
NEW YORK, N.Y. – May 11, 2015 – Air France will participate in the 10th Annual Maker Faire, a family-friendly event that celebrates technology and innovation, scheduled for May 15-17, 2015 at its flagship location in San Mateo, California. The airline, which is the first one in its industry to participate at the event, will share information on its new Apple Watch app and will showcase projects from French companies INMOOV and Minicut 2D. Visitors to the Air France booth will also be invited to interact with John Collins, Guinness World Record holder of the Paper Airplane Distance.
“Maker Faire is an inspiring event that encourages attendees to think outside of the box,” said Marnix Fruitema, Senior Vice President, Air France-KLM. “It is with great pleasure that we come to this year’s event not only to showcase our new innovative products, but also the cutting-edge work of other pioneering French companies.”
Air France’s Apple Watch app To illustrate the company’s technology innovations at Maker Faire 2015, Air France will have a screen displaying information on its new Apple Watch app, which became available this past April.
As soon as the watch connects to the customers’ phone, they’re able to find useful information related to their Air France account or next flight.The app allows customers to check their gate number and boarding time directly on their Apple Watch. Passengers can also find information on their My Account and Flying Blue account, and can board the aircraft by simply scanning the boarding pass on their watch.
Air France is developing even more new features for the comfort of its customers. Very soon they will also be notified of a change of departure time or boarding gate with the watch’s "vibrate" function.
INMOOV and Minicut 2D Air France is sponsoring French technology companies INMOOV and Minicut 2D at Maker Faire 2015 to support their latest projects.
INMOOV created the first open source humanoid life size robot. The fully articulated and animated robot is completely 3D printed, except the electronics and the hardware. Because it’s open source, anybody who feels confident can try to build its own robot by using a list of off-the-shelf electronics and parts.
Minicut 2D is the creator of a portable CNC hot wire cutting machine, designed to print any object in 3D. The French company provides purchasers with a user-friendly kit that can be assembled with basic hand tools.
Both INMOOV and Minicut 2D were present at Maker Faire Paris 2014.
Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth -- a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It's a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making and share what they are learning.
Maker Faire celebrated 131 Faires in 2014 alone and has reached over 1.5 million attendees globally since it launched in San Mateo, California, in 2006, less than a year after the publication of the first MAKE Magazine in 2005. Visitors to the Air France booth will have the opportunity to win complimentary round-trip tickets to Paris aboard the airline.
Air France’s booth at Maker Faire 2015 is #2317, located at zone 2 exhibition hall.
For tickets and more information on Maker Faire please visit http://makerfaire.com/
Celebrate a decade of making by using hashtags #MFBA15 #AirFranceMakers and interacting on Twitter with @AirFranceUS or Facebook/Instagram with @AirFrance.
About AIR FRANCE
Air France operates 1,500 daily flights in France, Europe and worldwide. Its fleet comprises 348 aircraft in operation.
Since 2004, Air France and KLM have formed a major player in the air transport industry. The two airlines operate the leading long-haul network covering 231 destinations in close to 100 countries from their hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. They carried 87.3 million passengers in 2014.
With their partners Delta and Alitalia, they operate the biggest trans-Atlantic joint-venture with over 250 daily flights.
Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam alliance which has 20 member airlines, offering customers access to a global network of 16,323 daily flights to 1,052 destinations in 177 countries.
Their Flying Blue frequent flyer programme is leader in Europe and has over 24.5 million members.
Internet : www.airfrance.us Twitter: @AirFranceUS
About Maker Faire
Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth — a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making and share what they are learning.
Maker Faire celebrated 131 Faires in 2014 alone and has reached over 2.3 million attendees globally since it launched in San Mateo, CA, in 2006, less than a year after the publication of the first Make: magazine in 2005. The ninth annual Maker Faire Bay Area welcomed some 1,100 makers and 130,000 attendees. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in five years to 830-plus Makers and 85,000 attendees. Atlanta, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Silver Springs, San Diego, Paris, Rome, Oslo, Newscastle (UK), Berlin, Hannover, Trondheim, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Singapore, and Shenzhen host our “featured” larger-scale Maker Faires, and community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires inspire and ignite creative communities everywhere around the United States and internationally.
Located in San Francisco, CA, Maker Media has been widely credited with jumpstarting the worldwide Maker Movement, which has been a transforming force in innovation, culture, and education. In addition to publishing Make: magazine and producing Maker Faire, Maker Media develops “getting started” kits and books it sells through its Maker Shed store as well as other retail channels. Maker Media is based in San Francisco, and has offices in Sebastopol, CA and at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
Twitter: @makerfaire Tweet this: Celebrate a Decade of Making at the 10th Annual @MakerFaire Bay Area, May 16-17, 2015 http://www.makerfaire.com #MFBA15