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Mall of America debuts helpful holographic elf for the holidays
How would you keep a shopping mall lively in an era when more and more people are buying their holiday gifts online? The Mall of America has a one-word answer: holograms. It's partnering with mixed reality firm VNTANA on what's billed as the "first-ever" holographic shopping concierge. Visit the mega-mall's Holiday Cottage throughout the season and you can speak to Ellie the elf (no, really, that's her name) for help tracking down top gifts. Ask about how to find an Xbox One for the kids, for instance, and Ellie will point you to the Microsoft Store.
The hologram isn't mind-blowing by itself (it's more like those Pepper's Ghost musician holograms than a true 3D image), but it's helped by a VNTANA platform that can tie a chatbot to a digital model. And no, you won't have to shout over the mall traffic -- there's a handheld microphone to take your voice requests.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snospar on Wednesday December 12 2018, @08:48AM (1 child)
Can't decide what makes it worse: the fact that it is clearly not holographic in any meaning of the word (it's basically a screen projection onto glass like a cars HUD); or the annoying laggy response to spoken queries.
Then there's the shots of kids smiling and in awe... but we don't get to see if they're actually looking at the elf!
Humbug!
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(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 12 2018, @04:46PM
"annoying laggy response"
That's what made the largest impression on me. It was the icing on the mediocrity cake.