'Hologram' to greet and guide travelers at N.Y. airports
A female "avatar" -- in the form of a life-size hologram type of image -- will soon begin greeting and guiding people at special kiosks at the New York area's three airports.
The computerized avatars will provide automated, basic information to travelers in LaGuardia's Central Terminal Building, Newark Liberty's Terminal B and JFK's Terminal 5 when they are installed in early July.
The computer-generated customer-service agent will be able to respond verbally when asked questions on everything from where the nearest restroom is to where customers should head for a connecting flight.
The virtual worker is projected on a pane of glass that was given the figure of a woman.
This is the first time this technology will be used at an airport in North America, according to the Port Authority.
She was designed to improve customer service, Port Authority officials said -- and she does not need lunch or bathroom breaks or overtime pay.
The machines are being rented on a trial basis for about $180,000 for six months.
It it part of a larger initiatvie to help travelers at the airports.
Improvements will include the addition of more customer care agents, expanded efforts to curtail taxi hustling, the installation of more power poles for electronic devices, and cleaner restroom facilities.
The Port Authority will begin increasing the number of red-jacketed customer care representatives by 20 percent during peak hours with 70 new agents. Customer service representatives speak a total of 27 different languages, with English and Spanish most prevalent.
They only need to use the hologram for Left Eye's revival on the TLC tour.
TLC were the first to use it performance wise. After Left Eye's death, they used a hologram of her on their last tour. They discussed it on Behind The Music. This will be their second time using it, but it'll look a hell of a lot better.