Story ID: 
Gogo Vision 360 Delivers the Goods
By: lvalladares@ainonline.com
Caption: It’s the IFE package of choice, thanks to automatically refreshed, unlimited entertainment and a premium moving map 
Word Count: 1072
Even highly focused business executives need a little downtime now and then. That’s why Gogo Business Aviation continues to enhance its Gogo Vision in-flight entertainment (IFE) offerings. Gogo Vision 360—its newest product, which debuted in December 2020—provides unlimited streaming of on-demand movies, television programs, news, and digital magazines, plus an interactive 3D moving map that’s unmatched by any other business aviation IFE product.
“Since we launched our IFE offering in 2014, we have seen several large competitors come and go,” said Gogo director of product development Todd Krawczyk. “We just continue to focus on the key aspects that we think make our solution better. It’s been exhilarating that we've been as successful as we have been, considering some of the big names that also gave IFE a go.”
Three Tiers of Gogo Vision
Launched in 2014, Gogo Vision now offers three tiers of service, ensuring that every customer can find a product to match its needs. The base Gogo Vision, complimentary with all Gogo AVANCE in-flight connectivity systems, features a basic moving map, destination weather, and Bloomberg news clips. Gogo Vision+ adds premium FlightPath3D moving map features, 30 popular magazine titles, and the Cloudport Wi-Fi automatic update device for $500 per month or a one-time $12,000 fee.
At $849 per month, Gogo Vision 360 adds unlimited viewing of 100 licensed movies and television episodes, plus multilingual audio tracks for select content, to the Gogo Vision+ offerings. With original air dates ranging from the 1980s through 2020, customers can relax with an old favorite or explore new titles. Gogo Vision 360 customers must be running AVANCE 4.2 or later.
 Passengers can access Gogo Vision content through their own portable devices or through the in-cabin IFE system, which can be customized to reflect the customer’s corporate branding.
“We ended 2020 with more units online than when the year started,” said Krawczyk. “It was a testament to the value that our IFE system is providing to our customers.”

Premium Content for Plus and 360 Customers
One feature available to Gogo Vision+ and 360 customers that has rapidly gained popularity since the pandemic began is the magazine library, which contains the current and previous month’s issues of more than 30 titles ranging from business publications such as Forbes and Inc. to sports and general interest magazines such as Golf Digest and Wine Spectator.
“In the ongoing COVID-19 environment, digital publications have proven to be very popular with passengers because they don’t have to worry about who else might have been holding a magazine like they do when it is printed on paper,” said Gogo president Sergio Aguirre. “Digital magazines are not only convenient and up to date, but they offer a safer option that helps ensure passenger health.”
The main reason to upgrade to Gogo Vision 360, of course, is the unlimited access to movies and television episodes. In addition to offering titles from a variety of entertainment genres, from action and adventure to comedy and romance, Gogo Vision 360 is currently the only business aviation IFE platform providing access to Disney content, including animated favorites, titles from the Star Wars franchise, and Disney Kids’ television shows.
“It’s kind of funny that our most popular titles are animations,” said Krawczyk. “Even corporate flight departments say their executives can only work so much, and they like the downtime. It makes them more productive in the long run.”
Instantly Refreshed Content 
“We conservatively say we have 150+ titles available, and we turn over about 10 to 15 titles per catalog [movies, TV shows, and magazines] every month,” said Krawczyk. “We’re working with a content aggregator and constantly feeding data back and forth about what’s popular and what’s not. If a title isn’t being viewed, it’s quickly swapped out for something else.”
For Gogo Vision+ and 360 customers, gone are the days when flight department personnel would have to schedule updates to the IFE, physically swapping out content via a USB drive on every aircraft in the fleet. Now these Gogo Vision customers can receive instantaneous content updates at their own hangars or at FBOs outfitted with Gogo Cloudport Wi-Fi.  
“One of the things we worked really hard on is making [content updates] absolutely painless for our customers,” said Krawczyk. “The Cloudport unit turns a hangar into a Gogo Wi-Fi hotspot, which means that customers don’t even have to think about their content. It automatically updates whenever new content is available.”
To minimize security issues, the Gogo Cloudport hotspot does not provide general access to the internet, but customers with separate Wi-Fi routers can change the Cloudport’s broadcast frequency to prevent interference. In the future, Gogo plans to deliver software updates and provide troubleshooting assistance through the Cloudport devices.
Premium Moving Map
Gogo has partnered with FlightPath3D to provide an immersive augmented-reality moving map display on personal devices and in-cabin monitors. Even the complimentary “basic” moving map available with all AVANCE systems offers 3D high-resolution imagery, multiple views, and real-time flight data such as ground speed, altitude, and heading.
“Gogo Vision has become an essential part of the inflight experience for many of our passengers and operators,” said Aguirre. “The addition of a new 3D moving map will provide an interactive experience for passengers that we’re excited to offer.”
The premium moving map available with Gogo Vision+ and 360 combines the high- resolution satellite imagery, virtual-reality window-seat views, a cockpit heads-up display, and an aircraft 360-degree view. Pop-up windows provide information on points of interest en route or at the destination.
“We surveyed the use of the moving map from an entertainment perspective and found that 99 percent of passengers access the map,” Kraczyk said. “People don’t sit there and watch it, but they definitely want to check in with it now and then, and having those different views is going to be valued by our customers.”