Interacting with Nina, an Augmented Reality avatar in a conversation simulation using InStage.
This past week I had a chance to explore an online learning opportunity facilitated by my classmates Matt Poole, Tracy Tang, and Tracy Whatmore all about AI, AR (Augmented Reality), and VR (Virtual Reality) and how these technologies can be applied to digital learning. Going into this unit I was more than a bit skeptical, having experienced previously just how prohibitively expensive VR headsets can be, and even when their cost was mitigated with technologies like Google Cardboard, just needing hardware in the first place to use these technologies was frustrating. Add to that being someone who is entirely dependent on her glasses, wearing any kind of device on top of my glasses (I’m looking at you, 3D theatre goggles!) distracts me from whatever experience I am engaging in.
That brings me to what I learned the most this week – that many new AR and VR environments are being produced to function without expensive hardware, which was welcome in that they didn’t distract from the experience for me. One particular tool I’m taking back to my practice in workplace learning is Instage which I used to practice conversational discussions with an AR-powered avatar. Even with the free trial version there was a fair amount of versatility to customize your conversation (although with the trial you are limited to two emotions in your avatar friend, and only one scenario – introducing yourself to them). I explored LLM (large language model)-powered input for the scenario in which I was meeting the avatar (at a conference) and what I wanted to discuss with them. I’m interested to see how much a full license in this software could cost and approach my organization to see if it would be beneficial. I could see using a conversation simulator such as Instage to prepare call centre agents for difficult conversations with customers, to practice navigating workplace conflict (eg. leaders having difficulty conversations with team members), or for interview prep.
Thank you again to Matt, Tracy, and Tracy for an engaging week of learning. I look forward to exploring this topic further!
It’s great to hear you found the online learning opportunity valuable Andrea.
I actually tried out Instage as well and had very similar impressions. Like you, I was pleasantly surprised by how accessible it was and the conversational practice with the AR avatar was quite engaging.
One thing I noticed during my trial was that the chatbot wasn’t limited to just networking scenarios. I found I could ask it about pretty much anything and steer the conversation in various directions. It was interesting to see how the AI adapted. After 3 or 4 exchanges, Nina would say something like “Wow, that’s really neat, I need to go,” but then she never actually left. It made me think about the potential and limitations of these systems.