Each year we take a step closer towards virtual assistants being omnipresent in our life. Breakthroughs in AI and display technology continue to inch us towards virtual guides, and even holograms that assist us when making a simple purchase. SapientX is a company dedicated to bringing fully interactive conversational characters to life to assist us with our everyday tasks.
Enter Chief, billed as “the first life-size, 3D talking avatar” from SapientX. Chief works as a guide at the Liberty Station retail complex in San Diego.
Liberty Station is a thriving retail, arts and cultural center located on the former US Navy, National Training Center (NTC). Liberty Station includes the USS Recruit, a landlocked training ship over 200 feet long. Seligman Group opened the ship, in May, as an exhibit celebrating the Navy’s 100 year history at the site and Chief was designed to explain this history.
Chief takes the persona of a gruff boot camp training sergeant as he answers questions and tells stories about the Navy base and life as a new recruit. He has proven to be popular with attendees, speaking with hundreds of visitors every week. SapientX and Seligman Group partnered to create this innovative approach to educating and entertaining the public about history. Seligman Group is one of the property groups that owns Liberty Station.
SapientX CEO, David Colleen, observed that “We began SapientX to develop AI technology that could speak to people like they were talking to their best friend. Last year, we began supplying life-sized characters that could assist human workers in simple roles. We are working to bring the next generation of conversational avatars to market. Today, our engaging characters are helping people in a wide variety of settings including restaurants, hospitality, healthcare, transportation, and retail”.
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