GE Surveys Future of Flight and the World's Most Popular Airports

As part of a series exploring the future technologies, General Electric has released a somewhat whimsical essay/game/video/map hybrid that thoroughly explores the complexity of modern travel.

"Future Flight" features a fascinating satellite map of the world's 6,000 most popular airports (there are over 49,000), which essentially allows travelers to play the spin the globe and point game with exclusively feasible destinations. Go from the Israeli desert to tropical Australian islands in one click by using the "Random Airport" button.

The Terminal Command game is a more serious exploration of the issues facing commercial aviation: Players run a terminal, providing services to the rapidly landing aircraft. The game is maddening, but makes an excellent case for airport empathy. The number of steps needed to get a plane off the ground is impressive.

The video below, about the future of airplanes, walks the thin line between being fascinating and visually distressing. Still, it is worth a look.