Lena, the recent development of Netlife Robotics gives a 3D animated face and body to the company’s Hungarian-speaking digital assistant solution, which can be used by customers in call centers, customer services, receptions, information desks and other
However, the popular digital assistants, Alexa, Siri, Google Home and Cortana, are most often used on computers today. , phone or special devices such as smart speakers. The market for artificial intelligence-enabled speech and voice recognition technology is growing dynamically, with Markets and Markets forecasting a size of $ 21.5 billion by 2024, an average annual growth rate of 19.18 percent, compared to $ 7.5 billion in 2018. . We asked Levente Bartha, CEO of Netlife Robotics, about Lena’s birth and future
Computerworld: What does their existing voicebot solution gain by getting a digital avatar?
Bartha Levente: We are making people’s lives easier by spreading digital solutions for voice-based information services. As humans are more emotionally connected to personalized things, it is worth giving the elusive software a body or at least a face.
We have been providing our customers with the Pepper robot for three years. But while only the wealthier companies can invest in a humanoid robot, a digital avatar that gains a similar experience may become more widely available. That’s why we decided to add a virtual body to our existing artificial intelligence-based software in addition to the physical robot body.
CW: When and with what capabilities does it arrive? the new development?
Bartha Levente: Lena will introduce herself in September as a digital avatar that looks into our eyes as we move closer to her, greets her in a pleasant female voice and asks what she can help with. He answers our questions in the same way as a live receptionist or salesperson would in a given situation. , the gender of the user, and infer from the facial expression the emotional state and mood of the user. If we smile at her, she smiles back, if we make grimaces, she can even laugh at herself.
As we talk, we feel Lena’s attention, with her subtle gestures it feels as if we are talking to a living person. It gives you much more freedom than a physical robot because we can simulate social communication with it on a much deeper level. Research also supports that 60-80 percent of personal communication consists of body language. In addition, the possibilities for displaying nonverbal signals in a 3D animation are unlimited.
CW: What applications does Netlife recommend Lena for? Robotics?
Bartha Levente: Our voicebot solution, embodied in an avatar, will be used primarily by organizations that currently serve the routine tasks of information with a live workforce: receptions, customer services, tourist information points, shopping malls, government windows, shops, telephone exchanges. A digital assistant can help you the most where you need to give template answers to a mass of template questions. By no means does it mean that customer service staff, shop assistants or information counters lose their jobs, Léna reduces the burden on them by opening an extra communication channel in space and time. A night shift in a country boarding house, for example, is a perfect job for Lena, no one will regret this post.
According to our long-term plans, we would make the customer experience quite fantastic. We believe the time will come when we can use a solution like, say, in Star Wars, the hologram of Princess Leia first appeared to the general public. Lena is another step that brings us closer to the development of such systems.
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