CORDIS proporciona enlaces a los documentos públicos y las publicaciones de los proyectos de los programas marco HORIZONTE.
Los enlaces a los documentos y las publicaciones de los proyectos del Séptimo Programa Marco, así como los enlaces a algunos tipos de resultados específicos, como conjuntos de datos y «software», se obtienen dinámicamente de OpenAIRE .
Resultado final
The results produced by Cybion within the 'As An Angel' project are a natural language conversation technology comprising a conversation motor, an interface for the administration of knowledge bases and a French-language knowledge base.
Since the explosion of interest in the Internet in the late 1990s, it has become imperative for companies to find ways to optimize interaction between Internet users and their web sites. The conversation technology developed by Cybion makes it possible for users to enter their questions or statements and receive an appropriate response from the system. When combined with an animated 3D character, speech synthesis and speech recognition technology, the natural language conversation technology becomes a fully-fledged virtual assistant, able to improve the functionality, usability and acceptability of information products and services.
The virtual assistant is capable of carrying out many roles on the Internet: customer service representative, virtual sales assistant, virtual trainer, navigational guide, information research assistant etc. By enabling users to express their wishes fully and naturally, the virtual assistant is able to provide a precise and rapid response to user needs, encourage user actions and collect valuable profiling data. It can increase user satisfaction by directing them to the appropriate information within the Web site and cut costs by reducing the draw on human resources. The virtual assistant is an innovative, enjoyable and pleasant way of interacting with a Web site.
Project results include the underlying technology that makes it possible to receive user input and match it with the information contained in the knowledge base, using natural language processing techniques. A graphic user interface has been developed to permit the creation and maintenance of knowledge bases. A knowledge base, focusing on the teenage and youth market has been authored and tested on end-users. A significant part of this knowledge base will serve as the generic knowledge base to be distributed with the conversation motor and reused with minor adaptations in other implementations.
User tests have proved a high level of interest and acceptance of the technology among all age ranges.
The conversation technology enables conversation in French or in English. As such, it is one of the very first virtual assistant product offerings in the French language. Feasibility studies have shown that this technology can also be adapted in Italian, as well as having potential for other European languages.
Testing is in the final stages: once it has been completed, the natural language conversation technology will be ready for diffusion and implementation. It is foreseen to initially target information-rich portal sites, and in particular portals for youths and children. Secondly, e-commerce sites specializing in cultural products are also seen as a rich vein to invest.
The revolution in communication platforms and technologies has deeply impacted the way people interact with each other, in any situation. This is true for internal (HR, training, information, sales motivation and reports) and external (customer communication and support, marketing, training) corporate communication purposes.
In order to meet this goal, Cantoche created the Living Actor technology a few years ago. The Living Actor (Trademark) engine provides the ''Actors'' with the ability to express themselves through a wide range of interactivity capabilities. It runs on an innovative 3D real time animation and rendering engine compatible with most communication platforms and interfaces.
Our objective in this project was to:
- Create a character able to react intelligently with any user depending directly of the requests he does.
- Link living actor with other technologies such as natural language, voice synthesis and voice recognition.
The result is a female character able to speak and react directly with users depending on their requests. Mayva always has a behaviour that is coherent with what the user asks and the web page she is able to open.
Since the explosion of interest in the Internet in the late 1990s, it has become imperative for companies to find ways to optimize interaction between Internet users and their web sites. Virtual assistants are an innovative, interactive and convivial means of improving the functionality, usability and acceptability of information products and services.
A virtual assistant is capable of carrying out many roles on the Internet: customer service representative, virtual sales assistant, virtual trainer, navigational guide, information research assistant etc. By enabling users to express their wishes fully and naturally, the virtual assistant is able to provide a precise and rapid response to user needs, encourage user actions and collect valuable profiling data. It can increase user satisfaction by directing them to the appropriate information within the Web site and cut costs by reducing the draw on human resources.
In the result described here, the conversational motor has been integrated with different technological bricks, in order to form a complete product offering. The architecture of the conversational motor has been designed to enable rapid integration of these and other technologies. Elements integrated within the project include:
- Real-time 3D animated character
- Speech synthesis
- Speech recognition
- Accessibility via cell phone
- Accessibility via PDA
The 'As An Angel' virtual assistant is able to include any or all of these elements. In its basic form, it will be comprised of the conversational motor and the real-time conversational motor, with the option of adding other bricks as required.
The integration of these different elements represents a considerable innovation in the field of virtual assistants. Until now, products on the market have generally either involved an animated 3D character (with little or no interactive capacity, via a click on link in the Web page) or a natural language conversational agent (with little or no visual appeal, often based on rather static, lifeless images). Very few virtual assistants currently available include speech technologies. The 'As An Angel' virtual assistant combines natural language conversation technology with real-time 3D animation, forming a highly convivial and interactive means for end-users to communicate with Web sites.
The addition of speech synthesis and speech recognition technologies represents a further step in user-friendliness. They are a frequent subject of user request, and an important step in 'humanizing' the relationship between the end-user and the assistant, as well as freeing the user from the constraints of typing their phrases on the keyboard. These speech technologies have not been developed by the 'As An Angel' consortium: rather, existing technologies that are appropriate for Web-based use have been identified and integrated for testing purposes. Future clients will be able to choose the most appropriate speech product for their particular needs.
The integration of the virtual assistant with the new generation of Java cell phones and PDAs opens multiple possibilities for the development of the 'As An Angel' project. With the current development of third-generation (3G) telephone networks and the installation of Wi-Fi hotspots for wireless Internet access in public and private areas, a new range of mobile devices will soon benefit from high-speed Internet access. There will be significant need for interactive products and services, particularly but not exclusively in the field of e-commerce. The As An Angel virtual assistant will be an excellent vector for the delivery of these products and services. Users typically create a closer relationship with their mobile, handheld devices than with a tradition PC, and the virtual assistant will be able to become a true personal assistant, accompanying the user throughout the day.
With the integration of these different technological bricks, the 'As An Angel' virtual assistant is ideally positioned to capitalize on an existing (but still developing) market for greater interactivity on Internet sites accessible via PC, and to prepare for the future market that is set to emerge for interactive services for mobile devices.
Integration of the above-mentioned technologies has been fully carried out as part of the 'As An Angel' project. In a fast-moving technological environment, it will be important to keep a close eye over the evolution of related technologies (speech recognition) and systems (telephone networks, wireless networks) in order to maintain compatibility and optimise the existing product offering.
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