The future of flying could include Google Glass-type headrests

Aircraft designers at Airbus are getting inventive again with their latest patent: a headrest that doubles as a virtual reality-type helmet that can diffuse music, movies and even smells to help flyers relax.

Drawings for the patent, filed recently by the aircraft manufacturer, show seat-mounted helmets that look not unlike professional hair salon dryers. Only instead of coiffing travelers, the helmet is meant to offer “sensorial isolation” to the external environment, with music, films, and interestingly, “olfactory isolation.”