Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Continues Collaboration with Soul Machines to Improve the Traveler’s Experience with AI

IBM Newsroom - SAN FRANCISCO – October 11, 2022 - Soul Machines, the company pioneering the use of autonomously animated, AI-powered customer care solutions to help improve the traveler experience, announced significant progress made at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Digital Iris is the newest member of the DFW team and the world’s first example of the Soul Machines’ “Digital Person” product built to assist airport visitors at information kiosks. Inspired by in-depth research of traveler needs, Digital Iris is a hyper-realistic, animated digital persona who can hear, see, understand, and communicate with appropriate facial expressions and gestures based on the responses and expressions shown by the customer – all in real-time. Since the pilot program’s initial rollout in June, Digital Iris has been operating in Terminal B and has already managed thousands of conversations.

Digital Iris provides travelers with up-to-the-minute, location-based information on Flight and Gate Information, Restaurant Information, Interactive Map Detail, Airport Support, and Service Details, all with empathy and engagement. Completely touchless, Digital Iris elevates the customer experience with voice-controlled, on-demand answers to questions in a way similar to how passengers would naturally interact with a human airport representative.

Digital Iris’ likeness and animation were created by Soul Machines and its speech and artificial intelligence were built using IBM’s Watson Assistant technology. While Soul Machines provides Digital Iris’ subconscious AI, comprised of emotional detection and response as well as autonomous animation, Watson Assistant provides conscious AI response, such as understanding questions and providing responses.

“AI and automation are providing businesses with the capabilities they need to deliver more personalized and seamless customer care experiences, while enabling their employees to focus on complex higher value tasks,” said Dinesh Nirmal, General Manager for Data, AI and Automation at IBM. “The launch of the Digital Iris solution at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is a great example of how AI can be applied to set a new standard for travelers and help support airport employees.”

Read the full announcement in the IBM Newsroom.

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