CHALLENGE
A speculative provocation to disrupt the travel experience
As part of its 100-year celebration, British Airways partnered with the Royal College of Art to imagine the next century of flight. Forty students across Design and Architecture were selected to explore how emerging technologies—AI, nanotech, and beyond—could transform the future of global travel. Our challenge: envision radically new customer experiences that flirt with science fiction but are rooted in real, early-stage tech. Through a user-centred lens, we reimagined air travel not as it is, but as it could be—solving today’s pain points with tomorrow’s possibilities.
CONTEXT
The next 100 years of flying
CONCEPT
Shape-changing smart luggage
Aer: A radical rethink of luggage for the next century of travel.
Travel is changing—but luggage hasn’t. Packing remains tedious, mobility awkward, and security reactive. In an era where the skies will be filled with immersive in-flight experiences and AI-guided journeys, the humble suitcase is long overdue for reinvention.
Enter Aer: a shape-shifting, self-packing carrier designed for the year 2050.
Developed as part of British Airways’ centenary exploration with the Royal College of Art, Aer tackles the very human problem of how we move with the things we care about—by combining generative design, soft robotics, and nanotechnology still emerging in labs today.
Aer starts as a flat disc. Tell it what you need, and it configures itself into a personalized, organized form—categorizing belongings as biodegradable, fragile, or compressible, then packing them with algorithmic precision. No more Tetris-packing, no more locks and zippers. Access is secured via DNA recognition. Run your hand across its surface to reveal a transparent view of your contents. When you’re ready, Aer rolls off on its own, meeting you at your destination.
Designed to adapt physically to its surroundings—expanding, compressing, or reshaping as needed—Aer streamlines storage for airlines, too, reducing handling times and optimizing cargo space. Every step of the journey is traceable through your device.
Because the future of travel shouldn’t start at the gate—it starts with how we pack.
OUTCOME
A global conversation
Our concept, along with others, was exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery in London, drawing over 30,000 visitors and sparking conversations about the role of design in shaping radically better futures. The exhibition created space for diverse perspectives on where travel is headed—and how human-centered design can turn emerging technologies into meaningful change. The show later traveled to Shanghai, extending the global dialogue on speculative design and the future of mobility.
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