Who was asking about SitePal? I have it.

PamelaSue

I was just featured in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (regional newspaper) for the SitePal figure (Krsitine) that I have on my site.  Check it out at http://www.WebExecutiveAssistant.com</A>.
You can contact me for specific questions on my website contact form.
Pam
Pamela Akkerman
WebExecutiveAssistant.com and
VAisBORN.com

featurewriter

SitePal came along right about when web audio (Flash-based) started gaining steam, which was before the current round of web video applications became affordable.I agree with Steve: there are some situations where SitePal might enhance the visitor`s experience, but consumer mindsets and expectations are changing rapidly thanks in no small part to YouTube. Plus, people warm up quickly to websites where there`s a short, personal video greeing by a REAL person instead of a cartoon. And the tech is easier than ever to learn.featurewriter2007-4-22 19:36:20

InactiveMember

Steve, I haven`t laughed so hard in a long time .... that suggestion was just just hilarious. You`re right, the avatar appears to pass out ... but sadly doesn`t.

InactiveMember

p.s. if anyone is interested in seeing where this technology got its roots, check out Ken Perlin`s home page. [ he is a computer graphics god ] you can actually control the face. in addition, the use of Perlin noise in the animation makes the avatar much more realistic, even if the graphics aren`t quite as good.
http://mrl.nyu.edu/~perlin/experiments/facedemo/</A>CookieMonster2007-4-23 0:3:5

yujin822

Steve -I`m Yujin from SitePal marketing team. You have a very good point, and I actually wanted to let you know that we are also considering developing an online tutorial functionality for SitePal. I agree that an online tutorial is a great way of using SitePal to enhance the user experience. Thank all of you for your postings. All of them were very helpful.
yujin8222007-5-2 19:22:16

william

Personally I have to agree with the comparison with music playing on a website or the more irritating flash intro to some sites that then state "skip intro."  Great turn-off.The SitePal is not at all good as a generic introduction.  My fear is irritating more than good sales potential.

SitePal

Hi Steve (or William?),This is Vanessa from SitePal.  You raised some good points about the use of SitePal for websites. However, SitePal users do have the option of setting up their  character to remain silent when the web page loads, and we also offer play/pause, mute and volume control buttons.  This way, site visitors have the option of viewing the site without audio if you are fearful of turning off potential clients.Thanks again for your posting!
SitePal2007-5-11 11:18:37

SitePal

@CampSteve:Unfortunately, we don`t have specific statistics at this time on the number of users who use the play/pause and mute features. However, this function has been gaining popularity and receiving great feedback as we have been focusing upon educating our clients on the best practice methods to implement their SitePal in order to engage and educate their site visitors. We want to help our clients maximize the impact of their character, and one way to achieve this is to give their site visitors control over the audio volume or play function. These options have become imperative as advanced technology, such as video and flash, is used increasingly to enrich and support the user experience.