Hologram Police: Seoul’s Answer to Nighttime Crime

September 4, 2025 by guest author, Antonia Hamberger

A common counter argument to switching DooH screens off at night, is that they make streets feel safer. But the metropolitan police in Seoul, South Korea, had a better idea than just relying on passively glowing displays for safe havens.

The city has hologram police officers “on patrol” at night. Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., life-size projections of uniformed officers appear in a park downtown. Installed in October last year, these virtual patrols aim to deter robberies and nighttime assaults.

The technology comes from British company Hologramica, better known from hologram show acts like concerts for the Black Eyed Peas or Tokio Hotel. But instead of singing or dancing, these virtual officers deliver a single, repeated message: “In case of an emergency, the police will be dispatched in real time. CCTV is installed here.”

After two minutes, the projection vanishes—only to reappear elsewhere in the park. AI-assisted cameras are stationed at the same points alert real officers when needed.

Seoul is generally considered safe, but the park had reportedly seen recurring incidents. Since the hologram patrols began, crime in the area has reportedly dropped by 22 percent, as a police officer told the South China Morning Post.

In Amsterdam, the police also experimented with holograph-ish technology before, though for a different purpose: not prevention, but investigation. They created a 3D visualization of murdered sex worker Betty to jog memories and encourage witnesses to come forward.