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In the previous Part 1 <Perso Interactive ① Creating not just simple AI avatars, but another 'person' who helps people.>, we heard about the process of Perso Interactive growing beyond AI on the screen into Physical AI that meets people in reality and helps them with what they need.
In this Part 2, we would like to share the story of three people who ask questions together from the moment they first encounter a customer's concern, check the user's reaction, and refine the product.
Q. ESTsoft's Perso Interactive Business Division is divided into three centers: the Business Center, Planning Center, and Development Center. What is the role of each center?
Sooyoung) First and foremost, the Business Center crystallizes customer problems into product and market opportunities. We meet customers directly to listen to their stories and identify their pain points and needs. Based on that, we propose ideas to solve customer problems using Perso Interactive. Then, we plan projects to verify those ideas and connect them to the final launch plan. We also play the role of managing the actual sites where Perso Interactive is operated, checking reactions, and linking them to the next projects and new business opportunities.
Hyunjin) The Planning Center specifically designs the service experience that users will actually encounter. We define workflows according to the customer requirements delivered by the Business Center, and design the experience users will encounter, ranging from the avatar's appearance and voice to its tone, knowledge, and interface. Based on this design, the Human Office implements specific screens, functions, conversations, and content so that users can experience the service naturally and lead to desired actions. We are constantly thinking about what actual users will feel and how they will react in different situations to improve quality.
Dongyoung) The Development Center rapidly verifies the possibilities of new technologies and makes them into a form that can actually be used. When a new AI technology comes out, we create a small PoC first to quickly check its potential and limitations, and if it is deemed valuable, we reflect it in the product immediately. To be more specific, the Engine Team makes AI listen and speak faster and more naturally, and also develops an engine that connects the intentions and conditions contained in natural language to product recommendations. The Platform Team builds a foundation for using the same technology and data stably across multiple products, and the Solution Development Team connects screens, devices, and customer systems to complete the technology into an actual user experience.
Q. From the moment you meet a customer to the creation of a product, I get the impression that the three centers move together very organically. What is the most attractive part of working together in the Perso Interactive Business Division?
Sooyoung) Since we are an organization creating a new market, the customer's first question often becomes the starting point of the product. We meet customers from various industries such as beauty, mobility, and exhibitions, and quickly show them the ideas I thought of as a demo to grow possibilities together. The biggest charm is that I can see up close the process of my proposal meeting the customer's reaction and being realized as an actual business item.
Hyunjin) From the planning required to create a single scene, such as an avatar's impression, voice, and a single sentence of conversation, to filming, implementation, and technology development, you can participate in the entire process of a good idea being completed into a human experience. All team members feel comfortable questioning each other's results, and we try out new technologies ourselves to find better expressions and experiences together. While building expertise in one field, your perspective on looking at products naturally broadens.
Dongyoung) Developers are given many opportunities to quickly experiment with new technologies and verify their value in actual products. Starting with a small PoC to verify feasibility, we connect engines, screens, devices, and customer services and bring them to the actual field. I can see firsthand how the technology I made responds to people's questions and leads to actual actions, and based on that experience, I can take the quality of the next product to the next level. I experience growth every day, and the sense of achievement and expectations for future growth from that are huge.
Q. ESTsoft is very active with AI Native. How are you utilizing AI in the process of creating the AI service called Perso Interactive?
Dongyoung) Generally, when people say AI Native, they think of working using AI tools. We are a little different. Rather than from the perspective of automation or efficiency, we focus on making products that understand what users want, going beyond products that users want. AI vastly expands the range of possibilities we can verify.
When designing a product, the first thing we look at is not the screen or the list of functions, but what the user is trying to do, which is the Intent. However, because users do not speak according to set commands, even the same Intent comes in various tones, incomplete sentences, and expressions where the context is omitted.
Therefore, when applying new models or technologies, we use AI to expand evaluation data that resembles actual usage situations. We check whether it correctly grasps the user's Intent, whether the response is fast enough, and whether necessary screens and functions are correctly executed. Accuracy, response speed, and function execution results are measured numerically, and humans examine the naturalness of conversation and context appropriateness, then verify this entire experience again on actual apps and devices. The product experiences countless conversations before even meeting its first user.
AI reviews expressions and situations that humans have not even thought of, and humans judge what experiences are natural and whether they have reached sufficient quality as a product. The roles of AI and humans are clear when it comes to perfecting product quality.
Q. I'm curious about the scenes that are particularly memorable to the three of you.
Hyunjin) For me, the AI Lee Kang-in project with Shoot for Love is memorable. Since it is an avatar of a well-known figure, people can't help but be sensitive to tiny facial expressions, tones of voice, and the timing of responses. So, we refined it very meticulously so that an impression characteristic of player Lee Kang-in would continue. The completed AI Lee Kang-in avatar was installed at Everland and visited by many people. Seeing people talk to AI Lee Kang-in naturally on site and smile in amazement as if they were talking to the real player Lee Kang-in, I felt that the completeness of an avatar is built on each small detail. Also, I learned that everything from the avatar waiting for a conversation to the movement at the moment of starting to speak creates a single impression on a human.
Sooyoung) In the early stages of Perso Interactive, I remember when we were developing avatar counseling and companion avatars for care workers. The time spent with colleagues who toured sites while pondering avatars and TTS suitable for social welfare and elderly people to perform a task for the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the time remains in my memory for a long time.
This memory has stayed with me for a long time because, based on this experience, we recently implemented a show host avatar with a famous Korean beauty brand. Seeing the actual Perso AI avatar naturally meet consumers while introducing products as an AI show host on a live shopping broadcast made me emotional, as the scene I had only imagined vaguely with the customer at first became a reality. I wanted to buy all of those products myself. (Laughs)
Dongyoung) For me, the Samsung CES project I participated in in January is the most memorable. At the exhibition site, the AI avatar we made became a promoter and introduced products including Galaxy to visitors from all over the world. When visitors asked for the location of a product, it guided them by showing a map, and when they expressed curiosity about a product, it continued with detailed explanations showing images. Without complex operations, they could find the product they wanted and check necessary information right away with a single word. Even though it was a global event, there were no difficulties due to language barriers. It was also special to hear the reactions of customers around the world right away regarding the new and fresh way our AI avatar guides products. It was the moment I verified from the closest distance how the technology we created actually changes the customer experience.
Q. If so, what is a scene that each of you absolutely wants to create in the future?
Sooyoung) Instead of Perso Interactive being a technology experienced once at an event site, I hope it becomes a service that changes everyday experiences. I want to provide practical help in fields that resolve various difficulties and problems faced by society, such as education, psychological counseling, companions for the vulnerable, mock interview practice, and interpretation at global sites, and bring positive changes to the world we live in.
Hyunjin) When people talk to avatars, I want them to talk naturally as if meeting a real person, without being conscious of the fact that it is an AI. I want to create an AI where the avatar's expressions, movements, voice, tone, interface, and system prompts (a collection of commands) do not play separately but are completed into a single unique character, reacting appropriately according to the user's questions and situations. Of course, the current technology is natural enough, but it's okay to be a little more ambitious, right? (Laughs)
Dongyoung) Of course. And if I were to add one more ambition of mine, I want to make Perso Interactive a product that anyone around the world can naturally use regardless of language and country.
Q. Given the determination of the three of you, these sound like entirely possible stories. Lastly, if Perso Interactive were to be remembered in one sentence, what sentence would you like it to be?
Although the three people play different roles in their respective positions, the answer to this question was defined in this single sentence.
'A new interface connecting people and the world.'
People experience products and brands through 'conversation' and explore unfamiliar spaces, and the world uses various services within their respective languages and cultures. Perso Interactive stands at the center of all these moments. What the Perso Interactive Business Division creates is not just a single screen, but a new interface connecting diverse people and the world.
Sooyoung, Hyunjin, and Dongyoung of the Perso Interactive Business Division are together from the very first process of defining customer problems. The moment a customer asks, "Is this kind of conversation possible at our site?", each of their processes begins: the Business Center finds the real problem and goal behind the question, the Planning Center designs the words and reactions of the avatar people will meet, and the Development Center implements that experience through screens and devices.
As a result, until the product that meets people becomes the key to solving the next problem, the expertise of the three people is organically connected to create a single experience that reaches customers.
It guides products at exhibition halls, recommends products suitable for customers at stores, and connects different languages inside taxis. The Perso Interactive Business Division has understood people's needs and gradually expanded the areas of what AI avatars can do in this way. Now, those steps are moving towards more diverse industries and across the globe.
From a talking avatar to working Physical AI, and from a corporate problem-solving partner to a service that makes everyone's daily life better. Today as well, the three run passionately hoping that you will be able to encounter Perso Interactive in more places of your daily lives in the future.
Perso Interactive is making a service that naturally permeates our daily lives with awkward-free AI avatars. Meet the new look of Perso Interactive created by the three people in detail on the official website.
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