PRSONAS™ Blog

When we first talk to people about the PRSONAS™ intelligent digital workforce we will often hear comments such as “Oh yeah, I’ve seen one of those in an airport!.” While we agree that the digital workers often seen in airports are attention getters, upon closer examination these digital humans are typically not much more than a video display on a continuous play cycle, running 24 hours a day.  

An intelligent digital workforce is much more than just a video played on a continuous loop. They use artificial intelligence and advanced human communications to engage consumers and supply valuable insights to brands. 

So, what makes it intelligent? Here are a few examples of the technologies that help virtual presenters be “smart” and better engage consumers. 

Environmental Sensors 

Instead of just playing a video on a loop motion, environmental sensors are used to make our intelligent digital workers engage naturally in our physical world. One obvious outcome of this approach is they will engage with consumers as they approach the unit and also recognize when they walk away. This mirrors human engagement! So much smarter than a repeated message or annoying playback loop. Environment sensors can be triggered by sonar, lasers, pressure mats, webcams, and even activated by doors. Using environment sensors is just one-way they can smartly engage consumers. 

Situational Awareness 

In addition to using motion sensors to automatically respond accordingly when someone approaches or moves away from the unit our intelligent digital workforce uses situational awareness inputs to engage with consumers more effectively. Any smart virtual presenter should be able to personalize their greeting based on the time of the day. For example, they should say “good morning” in the AM and say “good afternoon” in the PM and “good evening” at night when greeting consumers. A smarter virtual presenter uses situational awareness engaging consumers with gender-specific greetings like “good evening, sir” or commenting on the current weather conditions. 

Two-Way Conversational Human Engagement 

The visual impact of smart virtual presenters can certainly be a fantastic way to get the attention of consumers. However, once consumers walk over to the unit two-way human-like interactivity is key to actually engaging them. Providing consumers with multiple options for choosing the content or information they have interest in receiving keeps consumers engaged beyond that initial visual appeal. This smarter interactivity is achieved through combing artificial intelligence with one or more input technology options including, a touchscreen interface, gesture-based reactions, voice to text or even remote control.  

Live Support 

Even smart virtual presenters with motion sensors, artificial intelligence and two-way interactivity have limits to how well they can effectively communicate in real-time with consumers. If consumers want information or have questions that a virtual presenter cannot effectively help them with, they ‘won’t drop the ball’ they are capable of connecting them with live support. This is critical to making the overall user experience and engagement positive. Delivering live support via SMS, email, and live chat directly to the smart virtual presenter unit will ensure more complex interactions with consumers are handled effectively. 

Analytics 

Our intelligent digital workforce can capture a wide range of consumer preferences in the physical world. Unlike the online world, most of the consumer analytics available to brands from the physical world is still just post-sales data. Being equipped with motion sensors, artificial intelligence, and two-way interactivity they can identify consumer preferences and even deliver personalized offers in real-time. All the data collected by these smart digital workers is captured and made available to brands via a cloud-based analytics dashboard.  

An intelligent digital workforce has the ability to intelligently engage consumers and supply valuable insights to brands. Do not settle for using virtual humans that only deliver a marketing message on a video loop. It’s just not smart!