A new greeting display is operational at Jacksonville International Airport ahead of the holidays.
A “hologram” of Mayor Donna Deegan debuted Thursday as a $30,000 investment funded by the JaxEPICS (Jacksonville Enterprise Permitting, Inspections and Compliance System) budget with the City of Jacksonville.
Travelers will be able to see and hear the mayor deliver the message from inside a large box that’s situated just outside airport security in a central courtyard before travelers descend to baggage claim.
The “new, cutting-edge holographic communication platform” is a device from U.S. startup Proto shows video “that is so realistic it appears as if there is actually a person inside the 7-foot-tall machine.”
Although the images the box displays aren’t technically holograms, shadows behind the body and reflections under the feet trick the brain into believing there could be someone inside the box, according to a news release from the mayor’s office.
The “hologram” also has interactive capabilities and can send and receive live feeds.