Boston Logan adds AI hologram guides to help travellers navigate

Boston Logan International Airport has installed nine holographic display units that use artificial intelligence to guide travellers through the terminal. The screens show a life-size character named Amelia, who answers questions and provides directions.

Amelia can respond in several languages and currently covers 400 points of interest around the airport, a figure the operator plans to raise to 1,000 by the end of the year. Each unit knows its own position within the airport and tailors directions to the person standing in front of it. Beyond wayfinding, the displays can point travellers to a gate, give parking advice and call up security screening wait times.

The units were developed by Proto Hologram, a Los Angeles company. Its founder and chairman, David Nussbaum, said the setup offers information outside staffed hours, when human help may not be immediately available. The Boston installation is the closest version yet to the technology's full capability, he said.

At other airports the displays have largely been used for marketing, advertising and entertainment, according to the company. The Logan deployment is built as a wayfinding tool, with the avatar designed to answer questions and act as a guide.