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?

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  Are we talking about the beer, the mayor of Portland, an historical reference or a friend with that name?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.

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://venturebeat.com/2011/08/26/virtual-customer-service-agents-are-constantly-getting-hit-on/

The focus of the story is on the VirtuOZ animated characters and their “looks.”  What’s fascinating is that we see this exact same behavior from a certain percentage of Users with text-only engagement.  We think it’s because our “characters” are well drawn through words alone!

This was an obvious issue back during our early development – We created a zone called “backstory,” so that each virtual character would be able to engage on a more personal level, yet control the situation.  So, yes, you can ask our virtual agents on a date, their favorite movies and a range of other topics (though, there are child safe filters in place for most agents).

With mobile engagement, we find that this level of personalization is what is absolutely necessary to create memorable and successful consumer engagements.

So, sure, ask away…you never know what you may find out about someone!

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.

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

“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?