A London council has decided to replace a human receptionist with a holographic one. The hologram assistant goes by the name of ‘Shanice’ and will greet and offer help to visitors to Brent Council’s Civic Hall. The council said the new virtual assistant will, among its advantages, save money which could be better spent. However there has been criticism of the project, which cost £12,000 to implement.
Hologram Shanice is played by actress Shanice Stewart-Jones. At the current time the hologram offers quite a limited set of pre-programmed interactions. Shanice can tell you where to register a birth or death or where the register office is for marriages and other such common enquiries at Brent Civic Hall. You can see a range of responses, strung together in the video sample embedded below.
As you enter the Civic Hall you will see Shanice sat behind a desk “just like a real receptionist, but on closer inspection she’s actually projected onto a see-through screen” according to the council. Your interaction with Shanice is not by voice but though a touch screen interface. Criticism has come in concerning the limited number of responses currently programmed into the hologram and also that the system works only in English.
Lib Dem councillor Alison Hopkins told the BBC that the idea was “silly” and will become “unfit for purpose” rapidly. Hopkins added that the hologram was another barrier to human contact with the council and complained about only English being supported in “a rainbow borough” like Brent. She added that an ordinary tablet computer, with a choice of languages, would have been more appropriate. Alternatively hiring a young person would have been a better use for the money, suggested Hopkins.
Representing the council, Mark Rimmer, said that the hologram doesn’t replace a person but “It's instead of having a proper receptionist saying the same thing time after time”. He explained that people don’t read the signs around the building and need directing, furthermore a human solution to the problem would cost the council £30,000 a year. Addressing the language criticism Rimmer said that the hologram is capable of being programmed to work in several languages.
Shanice will be available to assist you, alongside the current receptionist team at Brent Civic Hall, starting from tomorrow.
