Seoul Police has been testing life-size holographic police officers as a way to increase people’s perception of safety and discourage crime in South Korea’s capital.
Every evening, between 7 pm and 10 pm, a uniformed policeman measuring over 170 cm tall appears in Judong No. 3 Park, a busy area in Jung-gu, Seoul, reminding residents that “in emergencies, the police will respond immediately,” and that “there are surveillance cameras everywhere.” But this is no ordinary police officer, but a 3D hologram designed to provide psychological stability to citizens and prevent disorderly behavior. Created by Hologrammica, a tech company specializing in holographic content, the life-size policeman model was installed in October of last year, on a trial basis, and recent data shows that it has had a significant impact on crime reduction in Judong No. 3 Park.
“The hologram sign is becoming established as a smart security device that increases citizens’ perceived safety and has a psychological preventative effect against disorderly behavior,” Jungbu Police Station Chief Ahn Dong-hyun said. “We will continue to expand crime prevention activities that incorporate AI technology to create a park environment where citizens can feel safe.”
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, a comparison of the same period before and after the sign’s installation showed that the number of crimes occurring within the park’s radius decreased by approximately 22%, which is considered a significant result.
South Korean police stressed that although this technology cannot directly arrest criminals, it does have substantial results in preventing crime and creating a sense of security, and that its scope of application may be expanded in the future depending on the situation.
“Although it was clear upon closer inspection that the person wasn’t a real person, the mere perception of police presence had a significant deterrent effect,” police sources said.
Despite the positive feedback from the police, the holograph didn’t make that big of an impression on the general public. Most people commenting online compared it to a modern-day scarecrow and joked that the number of crimes may have decreased because people were scared to go into the park after seeing a ghostly police officer.
“What the hell, there’s a police ghost patrolling around here, what the hell are people thinking?” one person wrote.
