Most airports try to fix passenger confusion with better signs. LaGuardia just put a hologram on the floor.
Terminal B unveiled an AI-powered concierge this week called Bridget, a life-size, fully interactive hologram that talks with travelers in real time and points them toward gates, lounges, baggage claim, and shops. This isn't a pre-recorded greeter, it's a chatbot with a face, and an industry first.
Bridget runs on a partnership between Proto Hologram and Holomedia's AI Concierge Wayfinder platform, with the system pulling real-time terminal maps so it can give step-by-step directions on demand.
She speaks English and Spanish for now, with more languages on the way, and the kiosk also includes closed captioning and wheelchair access.
Bridget lives near Terminal B's food hall, with more units planned across the concourse, and each one is built to handle dozens of questions at once, freeing up human staff for the harder problems.
That's the pitch from Proto's founder, David Nussbaum, who called LaGuardia a leader in changing how airports feel and said "the future of travel has begun at LaGuardia."
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Airports are quietly turning into AI testing grounds. San Jose has a robot helper, Japan Airlines is trialing humanoid robots for baggage handling at Tokyo's Haneda, and JFK's Terminal 4 has been running a non-AI Proto hologram since early 2024.
LaGuardia is the first to take the leap to a fully conversational, AI-powered version, and that distinction matters because it's the model other airports will copy or reject based on how Bridget performs over the next few months. The trial fits Terminal B's reputation as one of the most aggressive testers of new travel tech in the country.
For investors, the question isn't whether airports want this tech, since they clearly do. The real question is how many other terminals sign the same kind of deal in the next 12 months, and which vendor wins the bake-off.
Airport officials are careful to say Bridget supports human staff rather than replacing them, at least for now. The companies behind her, Proto and Holomedia, are both privately held, so investors can't directly buy in yet, but a successful rollout could change that.
If the rollout sticks, expect more Proto holograms to start appearing in airports, hotels, and stadiums, and the race to humanize AI just took a very visible step forward.
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