MEET Simone – in the near future, one of her animated siblings may be helping you with your banking.

The avatar is the latest weapon deployed by digital experts Speech Graphics in their plan to gain ground in the financial and healthcare sectors.

The Edinburgh firm rose to prominence five years ago after animating a music video for Kanye West. Since then its innovative programmes, which focus on realistic replications of facial movements during speech, have been used to create multi-million dollar instalments of video game series Gears of War and Call of Duty.

Now the cutting-edge company, which also counts Warner Bros amongst clients, is to expand out of the entertainment and games sectors in a bid to become a leader in virtual assistants for banking and health players.

The diversification comes as industries prepare for increasing levels of automation. A report released last month by the Centre for Cities think tank suggests as many as one in three jobs in some parts of the UK may be lost to cheaper tech by 2030.

However, Speech Graphics claims current man-made aides lack the human edge needed to keep customers satisfied.

It claims the quality of its software will allow developers to give every person their own “emotional and engaging” AI assistant and help make customer service avatars “ubiquitous”.

While Simone was created for a previous project, she is said to be an example of what could become commonplace.

In a press release, the company said: “By allowing businesses to licence this software, brands will imprint their own identity upon an emotionally aware, virtual assistant that will have the ability to interact directly with customers during self-service interactions from bank balance enquiries or money transfers, to daily conversations between healthcare professionals and patients.

“This new technology would allow for a deeper, more personal engagement with customers and patients alike, as well as improving the overall social experience involved.”

Dr Gregor Hofer, chief executive of Speech Graphics, said: “The intelligent virtual assistants (IVA) market is expected to see a massive increase over the next few years, from $750 million to an estimated $12.28 billion by 2024.

“Today the consumer expects round the clock customer service. Intelligent Virtual Assistants may seem like the answer but we also expect service with a smile. A smile you can believe in.

“Unfortunately avatars often negatively impact customer experience because they lack emotion. Achieving real-time delivery of conversational AI is hard, especially when combined with high-fidelity animation. It requires expertise in voice networking, visualisation, emotional analytics and speech-technology.”