For many years now user-interface designs have been remained relatively the same with little innovation. The mouse, keyboard, and the familiar point-and-click style of interface have dominated software designs for years. To many new users, this kind of interface can be unintuitive, unfriendly, or seem very machine-like. For users like these a new kind of interface has been developed: the "conversational user-interface."
A conversational user-interface uses a human-like animated "character" to "speak" to the user, leading the user through all the things they need to do with interactive instructions and gestures. The software developers at Microsoft Corporation have developed an interface system based on the conversation user-interface model known as Microsoft Agent. Microsoft Agent features a life-like animated character that interacts with the user through text, animated gestures, or even digital speech. The Agent character can then listen to input from the user via the mouse, keyboard, or even by using voice recognition technology.
This system allows for a more friendly "human-like" interaction between the computer's software and the user. A user can do as little as ask a question verbally into a microphone, and the agent character can speak the answer back to the user through the computer's speakers! Since the language used is familiar everyday English (or a foreign language if you prefer), and the character is a friendly looking cartoon character, this setup can create a very warm and friendly feeling for the person using the computer. Also, since everyone using computers today grew up watching cartoons on television or in movie theaters, the idea of relating to a cartoon character is very familiar and easy to adjust to.
Agent characters using Microsoft Agent Technology can be used for many roles in software applications. One very popular use if for Agent characters to provide interactive help and support for a program, so that if a user has a problem he or she can have a friendly interactive troubleshooter to guide then to the appropriate solution. Agent characters can also provide services as an attractive tutorial or walk-though aid to assist people in becoming familiar with a web site or a software program for the first time. Still another use is to combine them with a chat program similar such as AIM or Yahoo messenger to provide an interactive character to represent the person you are chatting with. The possibilities for agent technology are only limited by the imagination!
As part of my final programming project, I created my very own Agent character, using Microsoft Agent 2.0 Technology. My agent character is Foxee, a traditional cartoon hand-drawn animated female arctic blue fox. Her personality is very outgoing and cheerful, and she provides an effective means to communicate between the user and the application software. To learn how to animate, I purchased two books, The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams, the Academy Award winning director behind the feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair. Both books are actually used by animation school to aid in teaching animation.
The character design I chose for Foxee was that of a female arctic blue fox. Being a cartoonist as a hobby, I had many potential character designs that could have been used for my Agent character, including a cartoon mountain lioness and a cheetah. An arctic blue fox was chosen due to the character's cuteness, difficulty to animate, and her overall "personality." Due to the amount of interaction and randomness you can put into an Agent character, a character's "personality" is very important. For example, you can create your characters to be very forward and outgoing, or very timid and sensitive. Foxee's outgoing but un-aggressive personality and cool non-threatening colors allow her to have a presence on your desktop without distracting you from your work on the computer, unlike a brightly colored verbose character, which would dominate your screen.
The animation drawings were created with 12-field 20lb. Animation paper, the actual paper used by cartoon studios. To draw the animation, Sanford "Col-Erase" pencils were used. Col-Erase pencils are the most common pencils used by professional cartoon studios. Also to aid in the creation of the animation, a light-box, a 17-inch by 12-inch flatbed scanner, and a 35mm camera 12-field guide were used. The animation was drawn at a rate known in the animation industry known as being drawn "on ones," which means that the 24 animation drawings are used for each second of animation. The animation drawings were cleaned up and painted using the Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.04 software, and compiled into a working Microsoft Office Assistant using the Microsoft Agent Character Editor 2.0, which was provided by Microsoft Corporation.
The programming knowledge for creating the Foxee Agent character and the applications she is attached to came from the books Microsoft Agent Software Development Kit and Developing for Microsoft Agent. The applications for the Agent character were written in VBScript for the web application and C++ for the standalone application. Microsoft Agent interacts with programming languages via COM or ActiveX controls, so any programming language that can access these controls can be used to develop an application for use with a Microsoft Agent character.
In conclusion, Microsoft Agent technology provides a fun and interactive way to make your software communicate with the people using it. The Agent characters are extremely fun and entertaining to both children and adults alike, and can provide a positive computing experience for them. They can also be a creative way for your website to be able to communicate with its visitors. Probably the best reason of them all to implement Microsoft Agent Technology with your application is because everybody loves cartoons!