Virtual Conversations® FAQ
What is Virtual Conversation® technology?
Virtual
Conversations® programs combine digital video and voice recognition technology
to allow the user to engage in a dialogue with a virtual human subject using
spoken language. IDI patented this process in 1991 (U.S. Patent #5,006,987).
How does Virtual Conversations® technology work?
Users conduct virtual dialogues with video subjects (real people)
by speaking into a microphone attached to the computer. The user asks a
question and the character responds, and a face-to-face dialogue ensues.
The programs have an Intelligent Scrolling Prompts feature which provides
relevant questions for the user to ask. Virtually everyone reports that
the dialogue experience is "like talking to the real person." The believability
and educational effectiveness of these programs have been established through
field tests conducted at institutions of higher learning, both locally and
nationally.
How much does it cost to produce a Virtual
Conversations® program?
Development costs vary depending on
such things as how much video is in the program, how complicated the interactive
dialogue is, what features the program requires (e.g., feedback, multiple-choice
tests, scoring, etc.), and how many products will be distributed. For more
information on this, please contact us at info@idrama.com
Does Virtual Conversations® technology run on an Apple?
Our web-based Virtual Conversations® are cross-platform (PC- and Mac-compatible),
provied your use Google Chrome browser to run them. In the Windows environment
you can use either Internet Explorer 7+ or Google Chrome 11+ to experience
a web-based virtual dialogue. The legacy desktop programs avaiable for
sale on our site are Windows compatible and do not run on Apple OS.
Is the virtual dialogue method educationally effective?
As part of its research and development, IDI routinely conducts
scientifically controlled field tests of new Virtual Conversations® applications.
The majority of test subjects report that they feel like they've talked
to a real person. In addition, these experiments have proven that this method
produces statistically significant learning gain and a positive attitude
shift after a single exposure
to the program.
What are
the minimum system requirements?
For legacy desktop cases:
Pentium-class processor
16MB of RAM (32MB recommended)
10-30MB
of free hard drive space*
Optical drive (CD/DVD/Blu-ray)
SVGA Display(800x600,
16-bit color)
Sound cardExternal Microphone with on/off switch (included
with program)
Speakers/HeadphonesMouseWindows 9x/NT4/2000/XP (Legacy
Desktop Applications will not run in Windows Vista/7/8)
*Series with
multiple characters require additional hard drive space
