Helpful hologram starts work in Scottish hospital

The hospital was the first in the UK to start using robots for daily tasks

She speaks smiles offers patients advice and an array of information without ever losing her temper

But the latest quotmember of staffquot at one of Scotlands newest hospitals is actually an optical illusion

EVA which stands for Electronic Virtual Assistant will become the first virtual mannequin to be used in a Scottish hospital when she begins her first shift on Monday

The helpful holograms duties at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert Stirlingshire range from relaying information on how to quit smoking to reminding visitors to use hand gel to avoid infections

EVA can also provide details of the menu in the hospitals restaurant and even recommends her favourite dish of gourmet soup with fresh bread

Created using advanced computer technology EVA may seem familiar to some patients because she has been designed to look and sound like Scots actress Carina Birrell

A trial run at the weekend left visitors at the pound300m hospital stunned about how real the 2D hologram appears

Dennis Ryan 39 from Falkirk said quotIve never seen anything like it As we walked in to the hospital I said to my son theres a woman there but its not a real woman

quotWhen we got closer I could see it was a hologram a bit like Princess Leia in the first Star Wars film only brighter and clearer and with a health messagequot

Emma Donnelly 11 added quotShes really cool From a distance she looks real and shes got good informationquot

Mike Mackay of facilities company Serco which manages the hospital explained that EVA was inspired by holograms in airports which relay security information and welcome passengers

He said quotWe decided to employ EVA because she will certainly catch the eye of patients staff and visitors

quotHer messages are clear and succinct and she will always be pleasant and calmquot

quotIn the brief time shes been switched on visitors have been drawn to her and she promises to be a very welcome addition to the staffquot

EVA is the latest technological addition at the hospital which also employs laserguided robots to transport food waste and linen If the latest addition is successful health chiefs plan to install virtual mannequins in other hospitals

Ms Birrell who stars in the hit BBC Three lesbian drama series Lip Service was chosen as the inspiration for EVA because of her quotwarm Scottish voice and friendly facequot

Date : 16 Apr, 2012
Reference : http://news.stv.tv/scotland/stirling-central/303532-helpful-hologram-starts-work-in-scottish-hospita

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