Parallel Reality

Delta Air Lines Wows With Parallel Reality

What is parallel reality?

Parallel events or situations happen at the same time as one another, or are similar to one another.

What is Delta parallel reality?

As passengers move around the viewing area, the sensor continually shifts their private zone to their new location. It means they'll see their personal flight information on the big screen wherever they are in the viewing area, for as long as they remain in there.

How does the parallel reality work at Detroit Airport?

In what is being deemed as a 'Parallel Reality Experience,' a digital screen is being able to display personalised flight information to multiple users at the same. This is being done through non-biometric object detection at the Detroit airport in the US.

In early 2021, Delta partnered with the Transportation Security Administration to introduce the first domestic curb-to-gate digital identity experience in Detroit, allowing customers to use facial recognition technology and their passport number and TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership to move through their day of travel seamlessly. Digital identity technology has since expanded to Atlanta, and new, state-of-the-art Delta terminals at LAX and LGA now boast the technology as well.

The parallel reality display allows up to 100 customers to each see their personalized flight information on that one digital screen — simultaneously, mind you. And yes, each customer who opts in can see only his or her own flight information. 

It’s designed to create a more streamlined and personalized airport experience for customers, allowing them to navigate the airport with more ease and eliminate the need to search for a specific flight among the many rows on a typical departure board. And for the moment, Delta passengers can scan either a digital or paper boarding pass to experience this seamless process.

According to Delta, the proprietary multi-view pixel technology within the display can direct different-colored light to each of many viewing zones, allowing multiple people simultaneously looking at the same display to each see their own unique, personalized content. 

An overhead sensor detects your presence and location, using anonymous non-biometric object detection. In other words, the sensor sees you as an object without recognizable features – and without facial recognition. 

As you move around, the overhead sensor continually shifts your private zone to your current location. This allows you to see your own personalized content even as you move within the viewing area.

Delta says that future applications of the technology could exist at stadiums, shopping centers, entertainment venues and more. I’ve heard that retail stores have been working on digital ads that are personalized to each passerby, via their smartphone. 

I’d kind of doubted the validity of such technology, until I saw it first-hand this week. If Delta is somehow able to eliminate the boarding pass scan part of the process – and everyone sees their information without having to stop at the kiosk – it could make navigating strange and foreign airports much less stressful.