Airports look to holograms, not humans, to help visitors

… The holographic announcer I met is named Carla. She is a product by Tensator, a “queue control and management solutions” brand. Installed in June of last year, an aviation trade publication reported she cost the airport only 26,000 dollars. The avatar runs 24 hours a day and is portable so she can be moved to other areas of the terminal.

Carla is kind and calm in demeanour, with big eyes and a bright smile. Her resolution is so crisp one might mistake her for flesh and blood even at close distance. She greets you with folded hands before breaking into prestidigitation: a quart-sized clear plastic bag full of toiletries floats like magic into her flexed fingers. “Now that your liquid items are ready, let’s get you prepared for your departure security check,” she says.