Staffing the web with interactive characters

Like their human counterparts in the real world, interactive characters will soon play helpful roles, enabling customers of Web enterprises to do the things they go to Web sites to do. They will make it easy for people to interact with them through natural forms of conversation and gesture. They will add interest and warmth to the online experience through their distinctive personas, projecting images and styles designed to appeal specifically to the customers they serve. They will build relationships with customers based on familiarity, affection, and trust. Interactive characters also will surpass their human counterparts in several important ways. They will be able to exploit the Web’s vast information resources. They will deliver desired behavior consistently 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They will scale flexibly in number as needed to give immediate one-to-one service to each and every customer. They will remember important features of past interactions, making customers feel known and valued. They will set a new standard for customer service. We have built several such interactive characters, including Max, who guides visitors at Extempo’s Web site; Merlin, who guides interactive neighborhood tours at Haight Street on the Web; and Jennifer James, who works as a spokesperson at Samson Motors on Extempo’s Web site. All are built on the component-based architecture in Figure 1. The Extempo Improvisational (Imp) engine runs character mind software, providing basic cognitive functions for multiple characters and character instances running simultaneously. Application programming interfaces (APIs) support integration with various knowledge sources. For example, a Webguide character accesses information from a tour database or from a site’s back-end systems. It constructs a personalization database to record and retrieve information it has learned about customers. And it may use the Internet to retrieve information for its dialogs or to send and retrieve email. The mind of an Imp character consists of three pairs of plug-and-play competence/content components: a unique and persistent persona; one of several alternative roles; and the knowledge needed to perform its role in a specific application. Persona competence and content components involve all facets of a character’s identity: backstory; appearance; manner of moving, gesturing, and speaking; voice; knowledge and opinions; and social and emotional dynamics. A character’s persona is revealed through manner, dialog, and behavior. Role competence and content components are the knowledge and skills the character needs to perform his or her job. For example, a character acting as a Web guide has to greet each customer, determine the details of the right “tour,” act as escort to the Staffing the Web with Interactive Characters