Saw this blog post over at technorati about the new Accenture screen at Chicago O’Hare airport. A 10′x7′ touchscreen allows users to move images about and manipulate the information. It looks a lot like the screen used by Tom Cruise in Minority Report.
Interestingly, with the introduction of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags in to passenger tickets at many airports, screens like this can present customised information to the user based on nationality, journey plan, previous trips and spend profile, which is frighteningly close to the scene in Minority Report where Tom walks down the corridor and is bombarded by personalised adverts.
Of course airports are already using biometrics to track passengers. Face identification is under test at Heathrow Airport, and Schiphol Airport allows frequent flyers to bypass security using retinal scanning. With the increasing demand for identity tracking in public places, many of the gadgets and gizmos we’ve seen in recent scifi movies are here for real or on their way.
