The Houston Airport System is putting in place new and improved tools in its commitment to provide vital and useful information — literally at travelers’ fingertips.

Partnering with JCDecaux, both George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport will soon have new and improved Interactive Visitor Kiosks available throughout both facilities, featuring state-of-the-art software and 3D wayfinding maps that help not only navigate through the airports but also provide a plethora of useful information.

The new, more accessible kiosks — installed by JCDecaux the at both airports — feature oversized touchscreens that are easy to use and read. The screen display can be lowered to ensure it is  ADA compliant. Thanks to new ViaDirect 3D map software — Hobby and Bush will be the first airports in the Americas with that technology — passengers can find directions to their boarding gates by entering their flight information or scanning their boarding pass in the updated search function. The kiosks will take that information and display a 3D map that will show the quickest and most efficient route to the departing gate.

And, to keep those directions handy, travelers can choose to have a map of their route sent directly to their smartphone in a text message. As well, the enhanced search capabilities provide not only user-friendly directions and maps, but also pertinent information for the traveler, like weather updates, airport shopping and dining options, and a variety of services available, from the performance schedule of the airports’ Harmony in the Air musical performance program to the locations of clubrooms. The kiosks in the baggage claim area include information on nearby hotels as well as ground transportation. What is searched the most so far at Hobby? The location of the nearest restroom!

The response with the new software is fast. Using the kiosk, the time it takes to find a destination with the mapping tool has improved by almost three minutes — travelers thus far have been able to find their desired destination in approximately 60 seconds.

The kiosks soon will provide information in Spanish as well as English.

The first kiosks were launched at Hobby Airport in June, and since then usage at the new kiosks at that airport is up by nearly 900 percent — averaging 7000 visits at the kiosks by travelers per day. Bush Airport is just beginning the process of rolling out the upgrades and expects the complete implementation to be finished by late September.