News

Sensory's interactive technology expected to boost retail customer support

March 4, 2002

ORLANDO, Fla. - Retail customers might soon be turning to virtual help rather than a store employee following Sensory, Inc.'s development of voice-enabled kiosks that can hear and talk. The new suite of technologies, which includes speech recognition and synthesis, facial animation and lip-synching, was announced today during the KioskCom Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

Sensory's technology will enable kiosks to interact with retail customers, helping them find what they need. A motion sensor triggers the kiosk to ask a customer, "What can I help you find?" and triggers a dialog, according to a company news release. Following the customer's reply, the kiosk can indicate what aisle or location a particular item can be found, in addition to alerting customers to special deals and coupons, which the kiosk can print.

Retailers can display animated characters or store mascots on the kiosks to do the speaking, or create 3-D virtual agents that represent the stores. Customers may either type their messages or speak into a microphone, with the kiosk issuing an automatic reply.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sensory is looking for retail or kiosk industry partners to act as alpha test sites. The kiosk technology is expected to be in stores by 2003.

Sensory's technology currently is used in consumer electronics, cell phones, PDA's, Internet appliances, interactive toys and automobiles.