Hologram-ish Transparent LCD Used To Virtually Greet, Guide Visitors At Amsterdam Office Complex

March 10, 2023 by Dave Haynes

Here’s an interesting real world application of those shower stall-like, hologram-ish transparent LCD units – making a life-sized and live host available to visitors at a building, even though the host is located in another part of town.

The Dutch start-up Holoconnects worked with D&B The Facility Group to set up what’s called a holobox at the World Trade Center (WTC) Amsterdam – with the host appearing in the display, when needed, from a studio set-up in D&B’s Amstelveen offices, about five miles away.

The display enclosure is set up in the WTC lobby, and visitors looking for assistance are encouraged to stand in a designated area in front of the screen. The video suggests a sensor triggers an alert that goes to the host, via a tablet. The host then steps in front of a nearby white screen/lighting/camera/microphone set-up to then “appear” at the WTC, in front of the visitor.

It’s interesting. This could, of course, be done using a more conventional monitor and just by opening up what amounts to a Zoom call, but that would probably hit a lot of people as a cost-cutting hack that eliminated a reception desk job. There are also more conventional approaches like interactive directories and mapping. But I can see the appeal for a service-oriented company to somehow create a more human, one-to-one experience.

But this would not be cheap to do!