Right, let me get this straight. The uncomfortable process of air travel, bad enough with its crowding, overpriced food, and seating melees, will soon be intensified by a new airport humiliation: asking a hologram for help. And we think old ladies are odd talking to their cats.

Beginning next month, the New York region’s top three airports—Newark Liberty, JFK, and LaGuardia—will deploy “Ava,” a 2-D interactive image projected on a pane of glass, to assist travelers in what marketing brains are calling “way finding” and “virtual public guidance.” Oh yeah—and virtual advertising.

Ava’s entrée into our lives is being promoted as pretty much the neatest thing since sliced bread (we ran a somewhat breathless feature about it recently), and I admit her ability to speak multiple languages at the drop of a hat is a one-up on most human customer-service reps. But otherwise the concept raises more questions than confidence for me.

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