Second Screen Apps – Extending Story & Character

April 27, 2012 By

Over the past 5 weeks, it seems that not a day goes by when some new study emerges specific to how “the audience” for television are already engaged in concurrent, multi-screen engagement (see blog posts below with links)  – Just not with the 2nd Screen content being related to the television (email, social networks, essentially communication is #1 use).

So, after about 15 years of the term “convergence” being bandied about, the audience are converged.

But, the content is lacking.

Each study talks to the massive growth opportunity for 2nd Screen apps.

We have little doubt there will be a mad-rush to fill in this gap with aggregated content apps and superfluous layers of data streamed to the 2nd Screen.

But, what interests us (and where the contentAI platform is perfectly well suited), is to create personalized, extended story experiences on the 2nd screen that are indigenous to the television screen content.

For drama or any fictional content, the audience are already in a “suspension of disbelief” mode, as they are emotionally engaged in characters and story.  Creating seamless experiences that are personalized and interactive, that deepen the engagement in the television content, is where this all gets fascinating.

 

Filed Under: 2nd Screen, Friendly machines Tagged With: , , , ,

Conversational Writing – Defined

April 24, 2012 By

We’ve always referred to our platform as “conversational…” – Which has lead to discussions about how we define (primarily) mobile text based engagement.  Our apps are “conversational writing” based.  i.e. “conversation” does not require voice/speech.

It was terrific to read a NY Times story about “Conversational Writing” here:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/talking-with-your-fingers/

Where the author defines “Conversational Writing” as being different from “writing.”  There are some great quotes, one take-away is:

 Not surprisingly, then, the earliest writing was based on the way people talk, and that meant short sentences with a direct logical throughline. Researchers have found that even educated people today speak in word packets of 7 to 10 words a pop.

 

How does this related to “connected TV” experiences?

Nearly 1/2 of the Audience are engaged in “conversational writing” on their 2nd Screens while consuming television.

http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/9685-the-five-cs-of-connected-tv

So, how about directing their “conversational writing” to include the on-screen characters?

Filed Under: AI conversation, Conversational AI, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sometimes You Just Want a Person – Supplementing Mobile Virtual Agents

April 19, 2012 By

We have had a few queries about whether or not our platform could also include “live agent” chat – especially for small businesses?

In one case, this was so that the in-store shopper could instantly connect with any of the store employees who are on the Floor, but they can’t find.

The answer?

Sure.  Why not?

No apps to download.  No messaging costs.  The user’s privacy is safe.  

Instead of talking to a bot, you talk to a person, through our XMPP to HTTP platform and engine.

The only variable we need to include is a “push notification” to the “live agent” so they know there is an incoming message for them.

If you’d like to get on our early Beta test list, just CONTACT US and request “live agent beta.”

Of course, for volume and high concurrent user engagement, the personalized experiences we create with “bots” is the most cost effective and provides a great user experience.

Heck, we’re human too…we understand…sometimes you just want to talk to a person…quickly!

Filed Under: Friendly machines, WAP Chat Tagged With: , , , ,

Mobile & Responsive Experience Design (Emphasis on Experience)

April 12, 2012 By

Yes, everyone needs a technically responsive web design or a dedicated mobile site, in order to reach the ever-increasing percentage of consumers who find you on mobile and tablets.

But, after listening to numerous developer and developer service discussions on this topic, the over-emphasis on the technical tends to diminish the heart of the issue:  Mobile experiences are DIFFERENT than desktop.  I’d include the expanding ultrabook engagement format in this as well…

When someone finds you on a smaller screen, even if 50% of the prospects do this from their home (on the couch, while watching TV; see blog posts below), that consumer inherently has a different ENGAGEMENT FORMAT they are expecting.  They don’t need to access 100% of your data…they need to quickly pull up the data they want…

The experience needs to be controlled by the User…and responded to by the data/design (the User’s in control).

Small screens — Even medium screens (and virtual keyboards) — Are increasingly reducing “time on site” for Consumers.  Delivering ONLY the desired “experience,” quickly and efficiently, is paramount.

Therefore, the phrase “responsive experience design” – Where the User’s input shapes the data/content experience (intuitively, not through complex navigation) seems to be the Holy Grail of mobile design…Let the User define “context,” and then let the data flow specific to that context.

Obviously, we believe that natural language processing plays a big part of allowing the User to shape their content experience…Navigating and acquiring content through a User’s input…not forcing pre-set navigation…results in “responsive experience design.”

 

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

Innovation in Mobile Ads – Topic Du Jour

February 29, 2012 By

Nice perspective from Barcelona, as well as projections for the market:

http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/29/innovative-mobile-ads-grab-attention-in-barcelona/

What’s nice to see is that some “uniquely mobile” experiences are coming to light – beyond porting static web engagement – but, really thinking about the User Experience on mobile.

The future’s so bright. . .

Filed Under: Brands and Mobile, Mobile, mobile marketing, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , ,

Version 1.2 of our Platform Now In Release — HTML.5 Audio

February 24, 2012 By

Over at our subsidiary mLearning venture:  http://eslAI.com, the first release of our Ver. 1.2 of the platform’s enhanced UI is now available to kick tires and also LISTEN to the sound of tires being kicked!

We’ve added pre-recorded Audio to the applications which is cross-browser and cross-device compatible (OK, there are some lingering platforms we’re still tweaking to achieve playback on), but, in general, most mobile devices are testing Positive (Android, iOS, Windows/Mobile).

Where this gets really interesting on the mobile marketing and mobile entertainment front is where we extend this to be a Sound design and audio story design to accompany the interactive text chat.   We love sound FX.  Now we can add them into the chat.

At some point we’ll also incorporate text-to-speech, but the upside of pre-recorded audio is that it carries more emotion and style to it.  So, not all segments of the ESL apps (where there is personalization) include audio; but, an awful lot of them do (nearly 100 clips are included in ESL1)

Easy listening…

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Conversational AI, mobile english, mobile marketing, Transmedia Content and AI, Virtual Agents Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Origami Towel Creatures, Toys, Personalized Mobile Experiences & Delight

February 22, 2012 By

It was nice to see Portland, OR host last evenings talk:

Jared Spool Presents: Mobile & UX – Inside the Eye of the Perfect Storm – Portland, OR

Last night at the UoO building in Old Town.

We’ll post Links to his Deck when it’s available (Now available Here).

He’s been giving this talk for the past year, and a video is here:  http://vimeo.com/25547105

While there were 4x elements in Spool’s presentation that create this “perfect storm,” the over-riding metaphor for much of the presentation was a SIX FLAGS v. DISNEYLAND:  ”activity” v. “experience” paradigm.

Basically, SIX FLAGS offers a pretty straight forward activity-based flow, while DISNEY’s design encourages a more “experiential” flow for the End User.  The parallel was basically how online web sites are data/feature driven, while mobile (when successful) is more experience driven.

The natural extension of this, while not discussed, seems to us to be how a DISNEY-experience is “personal,” while a SIX FLAGS-activity laden day is more generic (everyone has nearly the same experience).

One slide in the presentation Deck were pictures of the origami towels that magically appear in someone’s “resort room” at the end of the day — sometimes surrounded by the visitor’s children’s toys (Toy Story with Origami towels).

The illusion is that this is a deeply personalized, memorable touch (even if 20,000 other rooms are nearly the same), in part, by adding the visitor’s toys to the tableau does make it “personal.”

Let’s extend this to “mobile thinking and UX.”

Mobile is a far more “personal” engagement format than “online.”

It’s in someone’s pocket, purse or bag.  It’s in someone’s hand.  It’s a one-to-one EXTREME CLOSE UP engagement.

It’s not just “experiential.”

It’s personal.

And, the UX, along with the programming, needs to fulfill “personal” engagement — Whether that is through deeply complex algorithms or smoke-and-mirrors fancy tricks (User’s will suspend disbelief and go along for the ride if you do it well), “personalization” of mobile experiences is what delivers:

Delight.

Which was another theme of the evening.

The contentAI studios conversational mobile platform is predicated on personalizing each and every engagement. Sometimes deeply, sometimes lightly.  But, it’s been a Prime Directive in the development of the platform since our focus went to Mobile, nearly 2 years ago.

We’ve been thinking about personalized mobile experiences for a long time.  Which is why the idea of putting someone’s children’s toys around a bunch of origami creature shaped towels, resonated so deeply.

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

Our “My Santa Talk” Featured on INTEL’s AppUp Store

December 13, 2011 By

Congrats to our contentAI and MySantaTalk team. . .INTEL’s AppUP store has the “My Santa Talk” interactive chat with Santa on it’s featured banner page…you know, up there with Angry Birds…


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

Filed Under: AI conversation, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, holiday mobile marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Interactive Fiction – An Emerging Market

December 7, 2011 By

Nice story over in GigaOM today:

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?

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI, holiday mobile marketing, mobile marketing, Transmedia Content and AI Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Mobile Virtual Personal Assistants, SIRI, Hype and Reality

October 16, 2011 By

It is great to see the “personal digital assistant” hype go into full gear this past week with Apple’s inclusion of SIRI at the OS level.

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.

Filed Under: AI conversation, AI conversational network, Brands and Mobile, Conversational AI Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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