Airport anxiety just got a dose of artificial intelligence (AI) from Hitachi Vantana. For those who suffer from the stress of the herds of fellow travelers in airports during the holidays, Hitachi Vantana may solve a lot of that upset. The getting to the airport on time, the check-in, bag weigh-in, and the damnable TSA, sooner or later somebody needed to come up with a partial solution.
Well, Hitachi is currently helping airport customers, while pursuing additional projects globally in the smart airports space. Hitachi’s Smart Spaces Marketing head, Justin Bean told Tech Republic:
“We start with the outcomes that the airport or airline is trying to achieve, then back into the technology that will help deliver that outcome. We show them examples of use cases we’ve deployed in other areas to help them understand what’s possible with new innovations. Generally they want to maximize safety, improve efficiency of operations, and enhance the traveler experience, while helping their in-terminal retailers thrive.”
Hitachi Vantara aims to implement new tech like Lumada Video Insights (LVI) at more US airports in time for the 2020 holiday season. LVI uses light detection and ranging ( LiDAR) to produce a 3D visual model of the airport, as well as the movement of travelers, equipment and baggage, all in real-time. This fabulous tool applies video analytics to analyze the movement of travelers and luggage while maintaining traveler privacy at the same time. The tech then compares movements of travelers to statistical models to assist airlines and staff to optimize the passenger experience.
Hitachi is working to create solutions for the biggest impact areas in order to deliver value to airlines, airports, and fliers. The strategy is to deploy solutions in a few areas and then to template successes for wider deployment. According to the reports, LVI can help airlines and airports improve traveler experiences by streamlining check-in and security line aspects, allowing travelers more time to relax or slow down, helping optimize aircraft overhead luggage space, and by reducing fuel consumption with better on-time performance. The video below with Hitachi Ventana CMO Jonathan Martin explains how enterprise data tools are changing business.
The potential of the new AI tools for helping airports is enormous. But, Bean told Tech Republic that Hitachi is also working on developing AI for other industries. From smart cities to heavy industry, AI, with video analytics, in combination with 3D LiDAR, and IoT sensors will certainly revolutionize workflow.
For travelers, airlines have a pretty good score where the overall customer experience is concerned. This EyeForTravel report showed that 80% of travelers rated airlines quite good to excellent in a 2016 IBM Travel Experience Index survey. 77 percent of those surveyed said technology was making a big difference in the passenger experience. However, low-cost airlines like Ryanair fall short when compared to Emirates, KLM, and many other full-service carriers. And this is where tech like that being created by Hitachi Vantana can be a game-changer. Relatively low-cost tech deployed by budget airlines can help put them on par with their larger cousins without the vast expenditures.
Photo Credit: Hitachi and Stephen Brashear Photography