Nice article and fabulous screenshot (gee, shopGirl looks familiar in her new interface!), even if we weren’t specifically mentioned!

http://www.remodista.com/starting-a-conversation-with-mobile-customers-cloning-your-best-sales-staff-with-mobile-virtual-agents/

Yes, that’s a preview of the new UI…though, it’s evolved a bit since that prototype…

SIRI is a smart technology. After all, it’s $150 million of taxpayer funded DARPA research.  Even if it’s a bit dated.

Apple was very smart to integrate SIRI within the REALLY IMPORTANT embedded communication apps on the iPhone 4S — The previous “app version” of SIRI could barely handle integration with six APIs and could draw upon very limited data pools to get you a Taxi or a Restaurant reservation (from within it’s limited list).  The illusion of intelligence continues with it’s access to Wikipedia headlines (an old chatbot trick), but it feels intuitive, which is important.

The real issue comes with “cross talk,” where an AI engine cannot parse between similar phrases or words that have different meanings.  i.e. “I need to find Sam Adams.”  Are we talking about the beer, the mayor of Portland, an historical reference or a friend with that name?

What’s the solution?

AI-based virtual agents that are tailored for a specific set of data; brand information and narrow-focused engagement; i.e. one agent per application.  The dream of having a single agent who can access data from dozens of apps simply isn’t in the cards, not in the near future.

So, create a personal agent for each application. For each mobile brand engagement.  It’s quick.  It’s affordable.  It’s what we do.

Of course, we do really enjoy seeing the enthusiasm for virtual agents that SIRI has brought to the forefront.  For that alone, SIRI is a wonderful thing.

ASIDE:  Let’s not forget, the voice recognition feature is from NUANCE, not SIRI.  We can integrate with cloud based voice recognition platforms very easily.  But, we’re wary of the issues these systems still confound us with, where a 10% failure rate can create incomprehensible user input.  People type on their phones all day long.  It’s the #1 form of written communication in the World.  It’s private.  It’s quiet.  We still like typed conversations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/opinion/you-love-your-iphone-literally.html?_r=2&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all

Addresses not just an “addictive” nature to mobile engagement – But it goes further — To a “love” of our mobile devices.

The subjects’ brains responded to the sound of their phones as they would respond to the presence or proximity of a girlfriend, boyfriend or family member.

Virtual characters and agents designed for mobile engagement fulfill the 2-way communication needs associated with the devices — the raison d’etre they have evolved to evoke such deep emotion.  We’re 99.9% certain that this “love” has not come into being due to GPS sensors, mobile banner ads or even “push” notifications.

To fulfill and make “love last,” emotionally compelling mobile content experiences matter!

I’d posit that mobile devices have evolved to evoke “love” because they’ve become our most important communication channel with friends and family (other than face-to-face).

While the article focused on iPhone users and implies that it is a more “loved” device than others, we’d challenge that assertion and suspect it is a cross-device phenomenon.  Simply, iPhone users like to express their affection a little louder than the rest of us!

For those in the mobile content business, we hope the take-away here is that to keep the love flowing, you’ve got to deliver emotionally rewarding content – not just click-throughs — this is NOT the static web.

CAVEAT:  Some really smart people have taken issue with the study (not just the thinness, but detail level) and that should be noted:  http://www.talyarkoni.org/blog/2011/10/01/the-new-york-times-blows-it-big-time-on-brain-imaging/

While the technical aspects are worth questioning, the underlying notion that mobile devices are held to be extremely personal by their owners remains fairly solid.  Just try taking one away from someone…or, see how they fare when they lose their device?  It doesn’t take an MRI to tell you that you are touching on emotions, not just rational thought.

That said, we like the work VirtuOZ do — And, we really like the perspective they offered in a Guest Post on VentureBeat:

http://venturebeat.com/2011/09/15/4-ways-to-bring-your-customers-closer-with-virtual-agents/#disqus_thread

The projected 400% increase in virtual agents by 2014 could be low (though it’s a great number, as is); but, we’d include our Mobile FAQ product in this category; and that form of application alone could drive greater adoption of IVAs on the “mobile side” of the web specific to individual products and intelligent packaging as mobile web use increases.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2011/09/06/quaker-uses-qr-codes-to-start-dialogue-for-nick-jonas-promotion

But, it’s an important step to see a major Brand move into conversation based mobile engagement — Our position that mobile devices are, at heart, communicators, is clearly key in the campaign thinking for the above.

Thanks @Mposada for sending the link and seeing the connection!

*****

UPDATE:  Another article this week with an excellent quote and perspective from Mike Wehrs of Scanbuy:

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/strategy/10915.html

“It is also an empowerment tool that allows for a one-to-one conversation…”

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=156030#

So I turn the tables on my better, skeptical half and pose the question to her. “How would your smartphone best serve you here?”

She is a lifetime shopper. This is actually a no-brainer for her. She points to the cosmetics counter as we pass. “Tell me what shades match my skin color. There are too many choices here.” We pass by the women’s clothing section. “Tell me what that skirt goes with that you also have in the store.” We go to a restaurant and she suggests, “Tell me what the nutritional value of this menu item is — and whether it has any ingredients my kid might be allergic to.”

In other words:  Let the customer ask a contextual and relevant question and give them a reply.

This is exactly what our MOBILE FAQ product offering is designed to fulfill.  In fact, we’ve started prototyping a cereal product that touches on the specifics in the quote (allergies, nutritional value, etc.).

Carrying this one step further, this is why we believe that personalized mCoupons are going to replace the one-size-fits-all model — Customers don’t want to be pushed the same offering that everyone around them is receiving — They want their smart phone to deliver “smart” to them.

The closing paragraph is worth inserting:

Why would we as an industry squander that opportunity on half-measures and disappointing brand puffery that runs the risk of poisoning the well and turning people off to the prospect of a clickable world. They can tell us what they want to know, apparently without breaking a sweat, once we stop trying to impress them with what is new and cool — and instead focus on answering their simplest questions.

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-mobile-advertising-personalized-ads-coupons-score-with-users/

Highlight:

According to a new survey, it’s not location-relevant advertising that is most valued by mobile consumers; it’s mobile ads that are personalized to a users’ tastes.

So, let’s look at our Mobile Retail demo with a virtual clerk.  In a couple of quick messages, the Brand derives market research data and the User is delivered a personalized mobile coupon specific to their needs that day, at that place, at that time.  All without GPS, accelerometers or Ouiji Boards.

Just ask them.

Today’s story is about an image recognition feature added to LAYER’s AR engine that sounds like Google GOGGLES, but, with more brand control on directing the action of the scan:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1771451/augmented-reality-kills-the-qr-code-star

Cool!

Except, how does anyone know when and where to use this?  How many people use LAYER to begin with?

These new tools and technologies are rushed to market before establishing user acceptance or demand.  Just when you think LAYER is one thing, it’s now another?

Market-Fit is forgotten in the excitement of new and shiny toys.

This blog post from over at CONQUENT touched on GPS and Location Check-in tools; which reminded me I hadn’t used Foursquare in over a year either.  Do regular folks with their mobile devices care about GPS enabled engagement, except for when using GOOGLE MAPS?  I don’t think so.  Yet, GPS based platforms still are funded and come to market almost daily.  Why?  Because Developers and the technology are cool.  Because it’s there.  Because putting things together in new combinations may come up with a killer app through serendipity, if not through smarts.

But, sometimes we come across mobile technologies that seem inherently “right.”

The TOUCHANOTE platform that uses NFC and EVERNOTE: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8686751.htm is one of those matches that seems really perfect.  OK, way ahead of the curve in many respects (by a year?), but, it seems practical, useful and maybe even fun.  It also seems that an “average user” (whatever that means) would find ways of applying this to their daily lives without a lot of complication.  We also see applications that are of great value for specific mHealth related applications using a platform and tools like this.

We spend a lot of time thinking about how the “average user” and their mobile device want to hang out together?  How do they enjoy acting together?  We’re not so focused on the early-adopter iOS user (less than 10% of the mobile population) since they tend to love all things shiny and new.  That’s great.  But, it may not indicate how the mainstream will behave.

We know that “short, text-based conversations” on mobile continue to be the #1 use of the device.  That’s where we remain focused, though we see these conversations being triggered from a range of interfaces.

http://mathieson.typepad.com/genwow/2011/07/trident-lates-to-use-qr-talking-heads-video.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+GenerationWow+%28Generation+Wow%29

Showing a Trident print ad, with QR, that leads to an “AR’ish” experience without AR.  Near as we can tell, it’s just a video being pushed from the QR scan.

Here’s the Youtube link directly:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X62xhsDqdBQ&feature=player_embedded

What interests us about the format is how we could FIRST engage in a quick “chat” with the end user and then deliver, for example, one of ten, different videos so that it is a more unique and personalized experience for each end user.   It’s a very clever format to expand upon.  Let’s hope we see more uniquely mobile experiences coming off of QR codes (and NFC) rather than shrunken internet experiences.

So, the first thought was:  Can our virtual characters and brand agents flow through Google Plus?  Looks like it’s Gtalk, where we’ve been for nearly two years. . .

So, voila!  We’re there.  What we’ll test next is how using Picasa and YouTube Links within the chat will enhance the UX  — The indication is that the files will open within Google+ and not require leaving the page. . .

Is this the only branded marketing or ad unit that can flow through Google+?  Maybe?  For mLearning?  Great potential too…

Back to testing…