Delta wanted to clean up crowded airport screens, and the solution was a complete overhaul, starting at Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).
Instead of searching through dozens of departures and arrivals for gate numbers, new sci-fi-style “parallel reality” technology allows customers to view personal flight information on a large, shared screen.
“Now that PARALLEL REALITY technology is in use, customers looking for evidence that the airport of the future is here may want to book a trip to Detroit Metropolitan Airport,” Delta Air Lines Say in the press release announcing the launch.
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The name “Parallel Reality” itself says something about what the technology does, and it feels like something out of a sci-fi movie. It’s designed to simplify travel and reduce some of the confusion when looking for flight information.
By scanning their boarding pass or — if enrolled in Delta’s digital ID program — their face, travelers can view their own personal flight information on a giant overhead screen. The technology allows 100 people to use it at the same time, but people only see their personal travel details.
But how exactly does this work?
The technology, developed by Southern California-based startup Misapplied Sciences, uses each pixel on the screen to display multiple projections and light to different locations in the same area, while standard TVs only emit light in one direction.
While the technology is currently only being tested at DTW, both Delta and Misapplied Sciences are optimistic about future expansion.
Greg Forbes, managing director of Delta Air Lines Airport Experience, told Washington post How positive the feedback has been so far.
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“If everything is as positive as it has been so far, I would like to see it in more airports and in more places at airports,” he told the media.
Still, the technology is still in beta, and privacy advocates the Electric Frontier Foundation said it was reviewing the system to see if it had privacy issues. CNN.
