Newark Airport Unveils Virtual Customer Service

Passengers at  Newark Liberty International Airport will always get a smile from this customer service representative. Just don't ask her to carry luggage.

That's because she's an avatar.

The Port Authority on Friday will unveil the computerized, hologram-like image named Ava  in the international arrivals area in Terminal B on Friday. The Port Authoirty is renting Ava from Florida-based Airus Media for 6 months at a cost of $360,000 according to The Record.

It's part of a $5million investment in airport service improvements at Newark, LaGuardia & JFK airports which includes the hiring of new full-time bathroom attendants in Newark’s Terminal A, 70 new human information agents, charging stations for electronic devices and cracking down on unlicensed taxis. The initiatives are meant to address frequent complaints identified in a 10,000-passenger survey commissioned by the Port Authority, officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.