Hologram Helps Passengers at Airport Security in Boston, Washington.

At Logan airport in Boston, Massachusetts, there's a friendly woman who offers advice for getting through security, speaks two languages, and exudes kindness. This is extra impressive when you consider that she's a hologram.

According to USA Today, the name of this "virtual assistant" is Carla. She's stationed at the main security checkpoint in Logan's international terminal, telling travelers what to take off and throw away before being screened at security.

"She doesn't replace any staff," said the director of aviation for the Massachusetts Port Authority, Ed Freni."We just want to have a more effective way to communicate with our customers. … She's an attention-grabber and is much more effective than some of the signs and some of the videos we have."

Washington Dulles Airport has a similar virtual assistant named "Paige." This hologram made its debut last month, and its job is to greet and guide arriving international passengers as part of a pilot program this summer. Three more of these holograms will arrive in New York's three major airports in July. Once there, the holograms can direct passengers to baggage claims and ground transportation.

As technology increasingly becomes part of the airport experience -- via receiving a boarding pass on your phone and getting notifications of delays and cancellations by e-mail -- officials see a hologram guide as logical addition.

"She's another step toward that high-tech experience," Freni says of Carla. "That's why I think it's really catching on."

If airport users extend a warm reception to Carla, she might take on other tasks. Other video-projected reps who could also join airport staffs, and they could guide travelers to airport shops and restaurants, Freni says.

Currently, there's no plan to put virtual help like Carla to work at airports throughout the country. "We think it's an interesting concept," says David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. "However we haven't begun looking at the possibility of using it."