IBM artificial intelligence partner Spacetime released a new “plug and play” avatar-based virtual assistant (chatbot). Powered by IBM Watson artificial intelligence the solution allows customers to select an avatar of their choice, ranging from simple animated cartoon characters right through to hyper-realistic digital humans. The company says avatars make chatbots far more engaging and helps companies represent their brand to customers better.
Spacetime says its Intelligent Avatars can be easily embedded on a customer’s web page and interact with existing content or even retrofitted to existing text-based chatbots. They can also integrate with CRM and ERP systems for personalised customer experiences like product recommendations or order histories. The avatars use machine learning to respond to user emotions and sentiment dynamically. This emotional responsiveness provides a much richer and authentic experience than using text-based chatbots.
According to Gartner, self-service is becoming the norm as customers increasingly expect an effortless experience. Organisations are turning to voice and other AI-powered technologies to give customers what they want and achieve higher operational efficiency. The trend of customers assigning their endless digital activities to virtual assistants, chatbots and other self-service tools will grow over the next ten years.
