Virtual Characters, CBT and Education
Avatars, Talking Web Characters and Virtual representatives are growing in popularity for one critical reason … “they work” …
It so much easier to put over complex product and service information using the spoken word, a thirty second narration is infinitely more effective and memorable than 2 pages of text and images. it’s what the media industry calls “lean back marketing”, where the viewer or visitor just relaxes and absorbs the information. Not only does the visitor get a concise and exacting media narration but it helps your site stand out from the crowd, become more memorable.
It’s a proven fact that in an educational setting information retention and concentration is improved when compelling content is used. What therefore are the key elements when selecting your animated web character.
Nice Avatar or Nasty Avatar: Many offerings look as though it has fallen out of the ugly tree, is the quality something you are comfortable being associated with your image. So it’s fair to say you’re talking virtual representative should be “attractive” to look at and have a compelling and convincing animation. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Lip-syncing is an Art and a Science: I cannot quite understand why anyone would find it acceptable to offer a virtual talking avatar product that lip-syncs badly, maybe they don’t think it’s important, or more likely, they don’t know how to do it, it’s the difference between understanding a fundamental and exacting science and saying “ah! shucks, that’ll do”, it won’t do! Our brains react in micro-seconds when faced with something that doesn’t look right! so a serious narration can turn into a comedy sketch. Does the virtual representatives lips stop moving when silent, does it shape the phonemes correctly or is it just a random selection of movements. This is a critical element in delivering a compelling narration, and should never be overlooked.
Virtual Character Ambient animation: Does the talking character have an ambient animation, is it subtle, or over-the-top, does it exhibit gimmicks like eyes following the mouse or strange head rotations, does it look as though it is chewing a wasp. Subtle animations are more convincing to the watcher, at the end of the day it is the content being delivered by the speaking avatar, and all animations should be kept to a minimum to avoid distraction.
Virtual Spokesperson – The Voice: Text to speech may seem convenient but it has a tendency to sound really bad. Remember! this is a virtual representative, your own animated web or media compare it is an extension of your image, unless you sound like a robot steer clear of synthesized voices. Use your own voice, or a friends, or shell out for a professional voice over artist, they are not as expensive as you think! In the future TTS will probably improve but at the present it should only be used if you have no other option.
Tailoring the Avatar: Tailoring the web characters environment should be restricted to clothing and backgrounds in the main, your want your visitors and users to build a rapport with your virtual representative, so changing its looks continually does not offer continuity to the visitor.
Talking Avatar Integration & Hosting: Try to avoid, 3rd party hosting you have no control over their hosting facility, if you rely on your web compare and your service suppliers servers go down you have lost your “voice”, you are better off loosing your complete website that a single part. Try to avoid, monthly retainers and Pay-for-view contracts, again you have little to no control of the number of visitors that will come to your site, If you are on a Pay-for-view contract and suddenly get a higher level of visitation the costs of maintaining an virtual web character could be very expensive. . Ideally you want a solution that gives you total control of the final composition in an industry standard format; Flash, Flash Video or conventional Video, you can integrate it within your own media or web solution with no hidden charges or service risks.
Composition Flexibility: A bird in the hand as they say! having access to a flexible production environment for your virtual web character is essential. You need off-line production, native file format output such as Flash, Flash Video, AVI etc this gives you the ability to integrate into other solutions such as Presentations, video, eBay, youTube etc, would this flexibility make your choice future proof. Can you obtain new characters , clothing , backgrounds and more. Are there additional services available such as voice-overs, bespoke character design and integration. It all helps.
Summary: Implementing a Animated Web Character badly is detrimental and could reflect on your business, it pays to take your time in the creation and don’t settle for second best. Remember your future could depend upon it.
Education & Training the compelling way: Imagine a PowerPoint presentation, facts, figures, graphs and images and there delivering the presentation, embedded within the screen a virtual tutor, available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. CBT has a new face, virtual assistants and guides integrate seamlessly into presentation media. Many formal education and training environments from the junior and pre-school nursery to the marble corridors of the corporate giants have seen the power of compelling media delivery. Literature assignment can be delivered in context and even brain teasing science and math education can become more precise when you have the help of a virtual tutor that has the power of “voice”. Un-attended education across the web or operated locally makes virtual education delivery highly effective and manageable. We know that retention is improved, we know that “lean back” education can be effortlessly absorbed and we know that there is nothing more powerful when it comes to delivering complex ideas or facts than the spoken word. The flexibility is endless. Education creators can concentrate on the subject matter and choose the ideal Virtual Tutor to assist in the process. Virtual Teachers can be available in different forms. Technology at its best, with a face and a purpose.
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