Orly Airport in Paris is experimenting with virtual boarding staff to make things look more high tech. The virtual boarding staff member is always smiling, never takes a break and will not strike.
The project is being tested at Orly and over the past month the virtual staff have received a mixed reception from travelers. The images materialise seemingly out of thin air when a boarding agent - a real live human - presses a button to signal the start of boarding.
They are actually being rear-projected onto a human shaped silhouette made of plexiglass. Three real-life airport boarding agents were filmed in a studio to create the illusion, which the airport hopes will be more eye-catching and easier for passengers to understand than traditional electronic display terminals.
As you walk to your boarding gate, the virtual person says "Bonjour! I invite you to go to your boarding gate. Paris Airport wishes you a bon voyage."
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The virtual agent would certainly beat the real thing I experienced last time I used Orly in June this year.
ReplyDeleteNormally I use Orly for long haul flights but this time I was flying back to Southampton and the flight left from the Air France short haul area.
Thanks to holiday period pressure on the airport they decided to route two long haul holiday destination flights into this area...result...chaos, queues, queue jumping and the only staff surly and unhelpful.
Three hours to get to passport control....two staff only....and through security...two lines only...
Total incompetence.