Instead of waiting around for your luggage to eventually come onto the carousel at the airport. A simple device that fits on the case, sends off a signal (beep or vibrate) to a unit held on a keyring, or even a ring to your mobile when it gets to with say, 50 feet of you. You'll then know that its within the vicinity and can go and collect it. It would also help if the airport would put a mirror ceiling above the carousel, so you could see your luggage going around without having to fight your way to the front from the start. Or - just thought of this - what about having a camera positioned at the entrance to the carousel - and it transmits each emerging case onto a big screen?-- Bantam, Dec 30 2002 Bollocks-- midscully, Dec 30 2002 Jesus,the luggage is not on the roof - the mirror is! Generally, the trait of a mirror is that it REFLECTS things. Therefore you could just look up at the roof from a distance to see your luggage on the carousel, without having to barge your way to the front or look over someones shoulder.-- Bantam, Dec 30 2002 Given that we're all admonished to switch off all electronic devices lest they interfere with the aircraft's navigation system, having a cargo hold full of transmitting luggage does not seem like a very good idea.-- Gordon Comstock, Dec 30 2002 All. The mirror is not going to make your luggage arrive quicker, but it means that you don't have to race to the front of the queue next to the carousel in order to see your luggage. The luggage come out as normal and goes around as normal, but the mirror on the ceiling above the carousel REFLECTS the below luggage. Therefore, you should be able to stand at a distance of about 30 feet from the carousel, look up and see the revolving luggage and avoid waiting needlessly in a crush of people.-- Bantam, Dec 30 2002 Ok - its another of these semantic things - Roof = ceiling. Therefore, when you are indoors, you look up at the ceiling into the mirror and see your luggage.-- Bantam, Dec 30 2002 Bliss - this ones for you then. The luggage is dropped onto a huge catapult, and once it has,say 20-30 cases on it, it is fired onto the concourse of the airport lounge. People who are about to go on holiday, would take lessons at 'casecatching' school on how to catch a case whilst ensuring minimum damage to themselves and their case. Teams of travellers would compete against other travellers teams, the object to be the first to catch your case and make it into the 'greenzone' (nothing to declare).-- Bantam, Dec 30 2002 Intermingling "roof" and "ceiling" is hardly a case of semantic difference.
The problem with the mirror is that most people would have to still be very close to the carousel to make out the reflected details with enough accuracy to be reassuring.
A decent quality video camera or two pointed at the carousel with the video being displayed on a few monitors in the vicinity of the carousel might better do the trick.-- bristolz, Dec 30 2002 I said it was bollocks.-- midscully, Jan 02 2003 OK.Put mirrors on the ROOF of the luggage terminal. When the pilot is over the building he looks down and sees the reflection of his plane. He then opens the bomb doors to the luggage hold, simultaneously activates and drops a plane-safe remote signal that opens the roof of the terminal, the luggage is caught and gently deposited on the ground by a reverse-trebuchet device. Your intact luggage is waiting for you to pick up as soon as you disembark.-- egbert, Jan 02 2003 random, halfbakery