Meet the woman behind Brent’s new hologram receptionist.
Actress Shanice Stewart-Jones plays Brent’s “virtual assistant”, who will help “point people in the right direction” in the borough’s new £90 million civic centre.
Today Ms Stewart-Jones, who lives in Greenwich but is originally from Cheshire, admitted she has only visited Brent once to visit her boyfriend who was there for work.
Diplomatically, though, she added that her favourite place in the borough was “the civic centre, of course”. She also told how she had to tone down her northern accent for the part. She said: “It’s weird to think I will be there greeting people every day.
“But it’s nice to think I’ll be there for some people’s special day if they are going to a wedding or civil partnership. When I recorded the script, I had to change my voice slightly if there was a wedding, because what I really wanted to say to the couple was: ‘Congratulations!’ I’ve been asked to come to the civic centre and see the hologram for myself.”
Presenter and model Ms Stewart-Jones, 25, has previously featured in ad campaigns for O2 and Marks & Spencer. She explained her pose projected on to a screen behind a desk at the centre appears rigid as special cameras made it difficult for her to gesticulate.
Brent’s virtual assistant — dubbed Shanice — is programmed to tell visitors where to register births and deaths or apply for a marriage licence or citizenship. But the £12,000 hologram can only answer a limited number of questions which people type onto a screen.
The hologram is the same as those used at airports to warn passengers not to carry liquids and to stand in the right queue. Brent said it will save £17,000 a year compared to a human receptionist, but anti-cuts campaigners have called it “incredibly wasteful.”
