Abstract:
A human-to-avatar communication environment is disclosed in which a user comes into contact with a life-sized avatar simulating a sales assistant. The avatar communicates with the user to assist with product information, give advice, provide specifications, answer questions, and transact sales. By interacting with the user, the avatar may gather information from the user that indicates the user's interests. The avatar could assist the user by providing information that may include answering questions the user may have about certain products, directing the user to detailed information about the products, informing the user about the product that best suits the user's needs, informing the user of any complementary or popular accessories that go along with the product, helping the user purchase the products, and notifying the retail store's inventory to prepare the product for delivery or pick-up by the user. In addition, the avatar may provide the user with product information which may include information about a specific product, information about a class of products, information used in the sale of a product, a product rating, a product description, a product price, a product's features, a product's peripheral devices, or any other type of information associated with a product. The user could also be provided with information regarding promotions or prizes from an external source (e.g. online, a catalog, an advertisement, etc.) and instructions to redeem the prize at the communication environment. The avatar could then assist the user in redeeming the prize or receiving, for example, a discount offered in a promotion.