Airports in London, Birmingham and Manchester have now deployed virtual mannequins to explain the security process to passengers as they pass through to the departures lounge. These virtual announcers have been mistakenly referred to as holograms, however they are recorded videos projected onto a thick die-cut black acrylic surface.

The technology is referred to as a Virtual Mannequin and is being provided by London’s MediaZest from a concept developed by 3M. The Virtual Mannequin is made up of Vikuiti Rear Projection Film that is cut to the shape of a “virtual salesperson” and mounted on clear acrylic. A Projector is used to projected digital video content onto to the Vikuiti Rear Projection Film.

It’s hard to tell how realistic these presentations are without being there. They may attract more attention than a talking head on a standard monitor in the short-term, but the flatness and limited movement of the model (they have to remain still within the outline of the cutout) seems like just another piece of digital signage that will blend into the background as the public gets used to them.