Obviously, SIRI was the big one.  Lots of press and very slick ads.  Now, along comes MAJEL:  http://technomondo.com/2011/12/14/google-working-on-its-siri-competitor-codenamed-majel-for-android/

It’s really important to differentiate between a “generalist” which can access finite data sources and act on them (e.g. send an SMS, register an appointment in your calendar), and a “virtual brand agent” who has a specific “voice” (even if text based) and knowledge specific to the Brand as well as a personalized engagement with the User.

At contentAI, we don’t build “generalists.”   The “one bot to rule them all” just isn’t as interesting as building virtual characters who are unique to a Brand or user experience.

There’s plenty of room for many mobile virtual assistants and characters – But, there will never be, on our lifetime, one bot to rule them all.  We do find it interesting that much of the “pleasure” people derive from SIRI is that it has some level of “personality,” beyond data retrieval.  People enjoy personable virtual characters…2012 looks like a very busy year…

INTEL’S appUP (Windows 32 & 64)**
http://www.appup.com/applications/applications-My+Santa+Talk

http://gigaom.com/2011/12/07/interactive-ebooks-take-on-fiction-novels/

While our interactive narrative is a unique branch of “interactive fiction,” seeing this as an emerging topic is terrific.

We are releasing the 2001 MySantaTalk mobile web (and some native app versions) tomorrow!

The URL:  http://m.MySantaTalk.com will redirect to the new app as soon as it’s “live.”

Our new UI is featured — While the UI is still undergoing upgrades and responsive design enhancements, this is a true Ver. 1.0 release as we move out of Beta.

We’re looking forward to the “App of the Week” status from our friends at INTEL’s AppUP…We’ll post links there next week too.

Have a wonderful and safe Holiday Season.

And, have a chat with Santa while you’re out and about, from your mobile!

Oh, right, yes, all of our web properties are undergoing a makeover the next few days…so, that’s our final year-end clean up…

See you at CES?

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.

Also, we just got an invite to present at the MOBILE PLATFORM CHALLENGE.  So, that’s another area to find us.

See you in San Diego.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on our thoughts about the iPhone and SIRI.  We think it’s terrific to see Natural Language Processing get a big PR boost. . .but, we also know the limitations of an “all knowing” personal assistant (it can never be as “all knowing” as we’d like to believe). . .Anyway, detailed thoughts soon.  But, congratulations to SIRI and their team.

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://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.