Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni at Newark Liberty International Airport unveiling.
Meet AVA — the airport virtual assistant stands ready to help you out in Newark and La Guardia airports, and soon JFK. This virtual guide, also called a hologram virtual assistant, is created by projecting onto a six-foot-tall human-shaped piece of plexiglass.
At the moment, she’s only an information kiosk that spouts a prerecorded message when approached by a user — but according to her creators, airportone.com, she will soon have voice-recognition and the ability to answer your questions. She will also be multilingual, to assist international travelers.
Right now the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are conducting a six-month trial with these virtual assistants. The public reactions have been mixed. Some like the novelty and others are weirded out by the way her eyes that seem to follow them around the room When idle, AVA is programmed to fiddle and look about in different directions. Via Holograms could soon replace airport workers.
