Why Cereal Boxes and Mobile are Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate

August 5, 2011 By

We use the “chat with a character on a cereal box” example to describe a great application for our platform often.

People “get it” quickly.

Then, they start thinking, “hey kids don’t have smartphones…”

Here’s the study:

http://adage.com/article/adagestat/25-toddlers-a-smartphone/229082/

25% of TODDLERS have used a smartphone (never mind, our cereal box example is more for 4-8 year olds; well, plus those of us who are older and want to chat with Cap’n Crunch, so, greater than 25% of population).

Now if 40% of mobile users have a smartphone, this means that Toddlers and kids are one of the largest mobile demographics!

We like the cereal box example.

One day we’ll put it into practice.

Filed Under: Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, NFC, QR TAgs, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Mobile Technology and Developers v. Average User

August 5, 2011 By

Each day there’s a story about one platform, or another, being the winner-take-all in the mobile universe.  Or, a story about how some new technology/platform means the death rattle of another.

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.

Filed Under: AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, mLearning, Mobile, mobile marketing, NFC, QR TAgs, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , ,

mLearning Simulations and Story…Encouraging Exploration…

August 2, 2011 By

“Precision oftentimes kills the ability of the learner to discover multiple real-life applications.”

There have been a couple of follow up blog posts to the WIRED article entitled: IN PRAISE OF VAGUENESS.

One notable blog post is here:  VAGUE STORIES HELP LEARNERS DISCOVER.

This is very consistent with the responses we’re receiving from ESL teachers that note how our ESL conversational simulations allow vague and varied responses — they don’t encourage precision and fixed responses — they encourage conversational exploration.  We allow the vague. 

Please stop by our http://ESLai.com unit and try out the simulation/stories developed with the contentAI engine. 

The articles are worth reading, here’s another quote. . .

“Sometimes, precision is dangerous, a closed door keeping us from imagining new possibilities. Vagueness is that door flung wide open, a reminder that we don’t yet know the answer, that we might still get better, that we have yet to fail.”

Does this same “wide open door” deepen user engagement for mobile marketing and entertainment applications?

We’re guessing, “yes.”

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Conversational AI, ESL, Mobile, mobile english Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

QR Leads to AR without AR – Clever Mobile Campaign

July 29, 2011 By

This was an interesting post from @RickMathieson over at:

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.

 

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, Friendly machines, mobile marketing, NFC, Products, QR TAgs, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

“Conversation” – One Way to Solve the Dilemma of Mobile Context

July 20, 2011 By

Despite all the sensors within a mobile device, “context” remains allusive.

The quest to really understand someone’s state of mind vis a vis chips, session management and sensors is noble.  But, people aren’t “read” so easily.

Why not just ask them?

At  least half the value of a mobile device is it’s use a two-way communication tool.  It’s the essence of the medium.  But, apps and mobile web generally operate outside of “conversation.”

Our Retail Demo (shopGirl) remains relevant to the ongoing discussion about “mobile context.”  It appears to be a simple, very short and quick back/forth conversation with a virtual sales clerk.

But, that clerk then delivers one of five possible mobile coupons based on the User’s “stated interest” at that specific time.

i.e. “in context.”

Passing sensor data through to the virtual agent will increase it’s “intelligence,” but, ultimately, no one can tell you what a mobile user is really thinking, except that mobile user.

Conversation is the fastest path today to determine contextual value for the End User.

It’s also a lot of fun to create.

There are some terrific insights and discussions going on around Mobile Context, these are current favorites:

http://yiibu.com/articles/wider-context/

http://www.cloudfour.com/on-mobile-context/  (including the comment section; great reading)

And this excellent piece on how “personalization” is the key to contextual…

http://www.dmolsen.com/mobile-in-higher-ed/2011/07/20/redefining-mobile-context-by-making-it-personal/?utm_source=direct-awe.sm&utm_medium=awe.sm-twitter&utm_campaign&utm_content=twitterfeed&awesm=awe.sm_5PHTZ

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Conversational AI, mLearning Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Mobile Web = Quick Loading plus Access to Deep Info with Conversational Apps

July 19, 2011 By

“An even 50 percent are only willing to wait five seconds or less for an application to load before exiting.”

http://gigaom.com/mobile/consumers-losing-patience-with-the-slow-mobile-web/

You’d better be light and quick.

We are.

With a twist.

Please take a look at our demos and our MOBILE FAQ product in particular.  Which generates a response to the User’s input and refreshes in under :3 seconds – All without forcing user navigation or their attention to dense text.

Where each response can also deliver light graphics specific to the User’s input as well as Links to audio and video files or more complex text data.

It’s not unusual for our mobile web apps to receive User engagement in the 2-3 minute range (commercial demos) and in the 10-15 minute range (mobile learning).  We have an exceptionally low bounce rate and high page view rate.

How can we apply our platform to your User’s needs and attention span?

 

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Conversational ESL and the contentAI Engine

July 19, 2011 By

Our mLearning subsidiary ESLai.com reach consumers in over 100 countries on over 140 mobile devices (just in the past month).  There’s a focus on certain markets where “conversational ESL” is clearly needed:

In looking at the China ESL market this past week the one big take-away was that despite being a $3-billion dollar/annual industry, people’s conversational skills are not being effectively addressed:

“At all levels very little class time is spent on everyday applications of English and conversation practice is rare. The result is students with a deep knowledge of grammatical rules who struggle to communicate…”

http://www.ef.com/epi/country-profiles/china/

So, with over 100,000 teachers and an abundance of online learning tools and mobile tools (and a lot of money) – “Conversation” remains the leading problem.

The contentAI conversational engine and platform is ideally suited to address this need.  New simulations and a new user UX are in development to expand these efforts.

We like the cross-over between commercial, advertising, entertainment and mLearning — each vertical has nuanced needs, but, those solutions improve the platform for all verticals.

 

UPDATE:  For statistics on China and mobile, this was released this week:  http://gigaom.com/broadband/china-mobile-phone-subscriptions/

Filed Under: Conversational AI, ESL Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bridges to Mobile Engagement – Could Microsoft Tag add NFC features?

July 10, 2011 By

Despite moving a fair bit of attention over to Google Plus, I noticed a #qrchat on Twitter today that featured a Microsoft Tag attendee (never mind, Tags aren’t QR, so, the hashtag was technically inaccurate).

This grabbed my attention:

Ended with an :)

Slightly cryptic.

Makes you wonder what’s up?  Microsoft Tag have been continuously evolving their platform (the geo-location feature on a single Tag is impressive).  Could a Tag Reader serve as an NFC software app?  No clue.

Filed Under: Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, NFC, QR TAgs Tagged With: , , , ,

Conversational Virtual Agents and Google+

July 1, 2011 By

We really like the look and feel of Google+ — It will take a good half year (at least) to gain traction, but once University students start tapping into it for both academic and social applications, it could be a winner.

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…

Filed Under: Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, mLearning, mobile marketing, Products Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Conversational Mobile Web…Reaching Everyone…

June 29, 2011 By

OK, not quite everyone…but, a lot closer than with native-apps. . .

We’re trying out new mobile web analytics this week; which include graphical representations of the devices which are accessing our mobile web applications – AND, our native-apps (Android, AppUP, etc.).

In a 24-hour period, this is the picture that’s painted:

 

Filed Under: Conversational AI, mobile marketing, Products Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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