Adaptive’s Press-to-Podcast Technology Aims to Diversify Onboard Media Consumption

September 20, 2023 |Written by Stephanie Taylor

Adaptive has unveiled its new Press-to-Podcast technology at the 2023 APEX IFSA Global EXPO, which allows passengers with visual impairments or elderly passengers that struggle to read to engage with content that was previously confined to the written word.

Leveraging AI-driven content transformation and advanced language processing capabilities, Press-to-Podcast enables the seamless conversion of traditional press articles from newspapers and magazines into podcast-style audio content. The solution comes in response to a combination of both media consumption trends and airline requests.

The audio content is available in almost any language, thereby facilitating global access to information, and is delivered with accurate accents and intonations. It also offers the option of multiple narrators.

The solution is currently a part of Adaptive’s ACES wireless entertainment and digital media solution, but the company’s COO David Fairand said it will potentially look to offer it as a standalone product in the future. The team is currently awaiting the results of a trial it conducted with an existing airline customer.

In terms of how it works, Fairand said that airlines can pick and choose how much content they would like in audio form, whether that’s 50% of their in-flight magazine or their entire digital press portfolio.

While the technology is fast, and weekly magazines will be easy to turn around in a timely manner, Fairand did say that Adaptive needs to consider how it might handle requests to turn daily newspapers into audio content because of timing constraints.

When it comes to securing the rights to adapt the articles into audio form, Fairand explained it’s simply a matter of adding a clause to the current contracts they already have to have with the press outlets to incorporate third-party titles into their ACES solution for airline customers.

Laurent Safar, Adaptive’s CEO, stated, “Our mission has always been to assist airlines in providing the best digital press experience and revolutionizing how people engage with press content. With this pioneering technology, we are taking a significant step forward in realizing that vision.”