Twenty years ago a pithy and leading edge TV show was launched by Britain's Channel 4 TV network. It featured a heavily made up Matt Frewer as the virtual character 'Max Headroom'. The cyberpunk TV show gained cult status quickly and even crossed the pond to the US. However, with all intelligent and witty work of that time, its life was short lived. What Max Headroom did succeed in doing was setting the stage for things to come... Virtual People. Fast forward twenty years and avatars (animated or virtual people) are quite commonplace, you can even see them sellng things on ebay! Avatars work tirelessly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And with the state of current technology these virtual personalities can almost (I'm hedging my bets a little to avoid flaming emails) replace the human element in certain business functions. For the most part thought, avatars and virtual people are still an interesting experiment in Internet automation...at least they were until recently... Leading Tire Company Goes Virtual ... In The Classroom In late January of this year, Fountain Tire licensed the CodeBaby technology to create an interactive virtual instructor - Paige. Edmonton, Alberta, January 27, 2005 - CodeBaby Corp, the leading developer of virtual agent software, announced today that it has licensed its solution to Fountain Tire, one of North America's largest tire and automotive service companies. Fountain Tire has created "Paige", a CodeBaby virtual instructor that will deliver personalized online training to its 1,500 employees across Canada. "CodeBaby allows us to add a layer of interactivity to our new learning management system and online training materials that we can't get elsewhere," said Shad Smereka, Director of Store Learning at Fountain Tire. "We are rolling out our new E-Learning Center to a diverse group of employees with a broad range of technical and non-technical skills. Paige adds a level of comfort to associates who will be using the new E-Learning Center for the first time. Also, adding a CodeBaby virtual agent to the online classroom helps keep the subject matter interesting while ensuring that it will be properly delivered and retained. This helps us get the most out of our investment in our new E-Learning Center." Training, The Root Of Success "Fountain Tire's success stems directly from its commitment to quality and service excellence, and this commitment starts at the training level," said Shaheel Hooda, CEO of CodeBaby. "By investing in the right online training tools, Fountain Tire is reinforcing a strong foundation of quality and excellence that will help them maintain their leadership position in their industry." CodeBaby's agreement with Fountain Tire also marks the first collaborative effort between CodeBaby and Operitel, makers of the popular Learnflex learning management system. CodeBaby and Operitel announced a partnership in November of 2004. About CodeBaby CodeBaby is a leader in Web-based virtual agent technology, and enables corporations to integrate state-of-the-art, interactive 3D characters with their Web sites and on-line services. The CodeBaby Production Studio is a development platform that allows a company to design and deploy a 3D interactive character - to serve as a virtual assistant, sales agent, help agent, host or tutor. CodeBaby virtual agents can benefit a wide range of industries and services, including on-line banking, health care, customer relationship management, forms management, telecommunications services and e-Learning. By hosting a virtual agent on a Web site, a company can interact with their customers more effectively and offer a higher level of on-line customer service, making the Internet and technology more enjoyable and easier to use. CodeBaby was named to the Branham Group's "Top 25 IT Up & Comers" list for 2004 and was short listed to the Red Herring Top 100 Innovators Award for 2005. Additional information about CodeBaby is available at http://www.codebaby.com. |
