A British airport has introduced holograms of real-life customer service staff to help speed up security queues.
The images of Manchester airport employees John Walsh and Julie Capper were created using the same technology that brings animated pop group Gorillaz to life.
The holograms will greet passengers at the entrance to the security search area and explain the restrictions on carrying liquids onto aircraft.
Although information boards already set out the security restrictions, passengers still regularly forget to remove liquids from their bags, the airport said.
"We don't want anyone to have to throw their drink or make-up away so we've tried lots of different ways to reinforce the liquid rules, from posters to people dressed up as giant deodorant cans," the real Julie Capper said on the airport's web site.
"Maybe holograms are the answer?" she added. "If our holograms help our passengers through the security process even quicker, then it will be a good thing."
The virtual assistants will be on duty from Monday.
The cutting-edge technology developed with hi-tech firm Musion also provides the option of recording other scripts to use at the airport. Musion founder James Rock also used the technology with the Black Eyed Peas on their latest single The Time (Dirty Bit).
"We've developed this technology for many uses but it's perfectly suited for an airport environment where the support of recorded messages can help with passenger information," he said. "It's something we've worked on for a number of years at Musion and we'd like to see its widespread use for practical purposes like the virtual assistants.
"We can reproduce musical performances and, as an example, Simon Cowell had a hologram of Frank Sinatra perform at his 50th birthday so you can see where we can take this technology."