FlyFast
Using augmented reality to transform the airport experience by reducing traveller stress, improving efficiency, and eliminating key pain points.
Given a brief to design an immersive technology solution, the airport stood out as an environment that genuinely needed one — a complex, high-volume space where travellers move against a deadline and depend entirely on external guidance, making it one of the strongest cases for immersive technology to add real value rather than novelty.
Existing research confirmed that getting through airport security is a significant pain point. Faster checks (45%) were travellers' highest priority, followed by shorter queues (36%), while 18% wanted dedicated lanes for unprepared passengers, pointing to a need for clearer guidance as well as faster processing. Waiting time drives the emotional response, with longer queues increasing frustration, uncertainty and perceived time loss (Kim, Park & Choi, 2020). I focused on three psychological factors: neglect, waste of time and boredom. In 2022, security queues at Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport with over 80 million passengers in 2024, averaged 20 minutes (Statista).
On the technology side, travellers showed an appetite for digital solutions, particularly virtual queuing (17%) and virtual assistants (13%), highlighting growing interest in technology-supported airport experiences (Booking.com).
Use augmented reality to improve the airport experience by eliminating pain points, increasing efficiency, and reducing traveller stress.
Insight: Companies using AR report average productivity improvements of 32%, and a major international airline already uses AR to determine whether a flight is ready to depart (IBM). AR helps users complete tasks faster, which translates directly to a faster airport experience.
Why AR: I selected augmented reality as the interaction paradigm because its attributes were strong and still improving, which allowed an explorative approach to the design.
User Research
I mapped the departure and arrival journeys and scored each stage by stress in a heat map. One stage dominated both: the security line acted as a bottleneck, with wait times outweighing even check-in worries about overweight luggage.
Mapping security as its own journey revealed why. The wait is stressful because it's unmeasured, and unpacking tech, shoes and jewellery happens under observation with no prior instructions. Each pain point pointed to an intervention: time until exit, a digital ID check, and prep instructions before the belt.
Personas
Concept Development
Technology Exploration
I benchmarked a range of optical see-through (OST) devices including HoloLens 2, XREAL One AR, Magic Leap 2 and Ray-Ban Meta, with hands-on testing of HoloLens, Oculus and Google Glass. Microsoft HoloLens emerged as the closest match due to its OST display and interaction capabilities, despite its limited 52° field of view. It also lacks a vibration motor, which leaves accessibility for users with hearing impairments as a consideration for future hardware. The technical foundation of the concept combined BLE beacons for location-aware interactions with a lightweight MobileNet model to verify items placed in the security tray.
Design
Designing for Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport, meant the solution could scale to other airports too. Using a real Heathrow security walkthrough video as a foundation, I sketched over screenshots to build a storyboard around its key interactions. The design system was built on Apple's visionOS, using a glass materials that blends digital and real, SF Pro for multilingual readability, SF Symbols icons, and traffic-light colour coding (red for stop, green for go) to keep the interface focused on communication over aesthetics.
Each component solved a specific friction point: navigation arrows, virtual boundaries for intelligent queueing, AirPass (digitised passport and boarding pass), and a mobile emotional indicator. The system was designed for two users, with a staff-side AirPass that let personnel access approved documents digitally, streamlining interaction rather than removing it. Sound was considered alongside the visuals, with a gentle notification tone to hold attention without stress. I animated the components in After Effects to demonstrate the full experience.
Design System
Design Assets
Testing
I used Microsoft Forms to conduct testing in three stages: participant screening, user feedback, and A/B testing. A survey of 12 travellers confirmed the problem space, with security and wayfinding identified as the most challenging parts of the airport journey. Comparing the standard and AR-enhanced videos, positive sentiment increased from 27% to 82%, while 90.91% of participants reported improved understanding. A/B testing refined the placement of navigation, notifications, and visual elements, confirming a preference for minimal staff interaction and self-guided AR, and informing the final iteration with a progress bar, language translation, and improved queue guidance.
Testing & Design Iterations
Prototyping
FlyFast
FlyFast is an AR airport experience designed to make one of the airport's most stressful stages more guided and efficient. User testing showed strong results, with positive sentiment increasing from 27% to 82% after introducing AR elements, while 90.91% of participants reported a better understanding of the experience. Designed around emerging optical see-through technologies, the concept explores how wearable AR could support future airport navigation and passenger assistance.
Future considerations include multimodal transport integration extending navigation from airport to final destination, and enhanced accessibility through voice control, high-contrast visuals and synchronised audio-tactile feedback, pairing haptic and audio cues within the 23–46 ms perceptual window identified in Huawei's research to address the absence of a vibration motor in current OST hardware.
