Detroit Airport’s Experimental Biometric Flight Info Display Will Recognize Passengers and Tailor Content for Them

“The system will use facial recognition to identify participating travelers and show them the appropriate information.”

Delta Air Lines and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) have found a novel application of biometric technology in an airport setting. The organizations have announced a new pilot in which flight information screens will show content tailored to each recognized traveler.

The organizations have teamed up with a company called Misapplied Sciences, whose “Parallel Reality” display technology enables directional targeting of screen images in order to show different visualizations to different viewers at the same time. When applied to the flight departure screens of an airport, that means that one traveler might be shown details pertaining to their own flight to Paris, while another traveler looking at the screen will see their Milan departure information.

The system will use facial recognition to identify participating travelers and show them the appropriate information. Those who want to opt into the system can either scan their boarding pass to enroll, or use their Fly Delta App digital ID.

The experimental pilot offers the latest example of the utility of biometric technology at airports, where facial recognition is now widely used to facilitate streamline passenger processing, and for border security. On the latter front, US Customs and Border Protection recently announced the completion of its nationwide rollout of its face-scanning border control system across all American airports.

For their part, both Delta and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport have proven to be early adopters of biometric technology in the past. They worked with the CBP on a pioneering biometric boarding system for passengers as early as 2018. They also developed a curb-to-gate biometric passenger processing system in collaboration with the Transportation Security Administration in 2020.

Delta and DTW will trial their new Parallel Reality display system at a dedicated exhibition in Concourse A of the airport’s McNamara Terminal, and Delta will be seeking direct feedback from participants as its administrators try to assess the utility of the system before potentially expanding its use. The airline promises that it will not store the information of participants, in an effort to protect privacy.

The pilot is slated to begin June 29.

Sources: Gizmodo, Travel Pulse, Delta Air Lines

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June 9, 2022 – by Alex Perala