From roll-up to dialogue: avatar kiosks (Avatar Story) at trade shows
After years in 3D printing, I learned one thing: even the most futuristic product can disappear in a sea of roll-ups and looping videos. On the show floor, we fight for fractions of a second of attention — and that’s where “dead” assets usually lose to a live conversation.
So instead of playing a video in a kiosk, why not run a real, controllable conversation? A conversation that is predictable, on-brand, and can run on a standard event setup. That’s where AvatarSpark comes in — a platform for designing and running avatar-led conversational projects, composed of a visual editor, AI integrations, video generation, a player layer, and full analytics.
What is Avatar Story in a kiosk
Avatar Story is your brand and product narrative delivered by an on-screen avatar. Instead of a single, rigid film, you build a deterministic conversation tree: visitors choose topics (who we are, offer, comparisons, case studies, how to start), and the avatar guides them along predefined branches. Each branch is a node with content and video, linked by parent–child relations — together forming a logical map of the conversation.
In practice, the kiosk displays a video sequence with a choice interface, and the visitor “clicks” the path they care about most. The player tracks history, fullscreen, navigation, and analytics events — behaving like a director of interaction, not a plain video player.
A full conversation engine in one place
AvatarSpark is a complete workbench, not a single widget. During design you:
- arrange the scenario in a tree editor (drag & drop),
- use AI/LLM to map user intents and propose paths,
- generate node videos with TTS + lip‑sync,
- and tie it all together with a player and analytics in the panel.
This solves the classic event dilemma: you keep control of the narrative (deterministic paths) while giving the audience the feel of a dialogue. Since the heavy lifting happens before the event, the kiosk runs light and stable on site — no GPU farms and no improvisation.
Practical note: if you like, you can embed the player layer on the kiosk page using a simple script (avatarspark.js). That’s just the front — the heart remains the platform where your project lives.
Why AI if the tree is predetermined?
Because the most valuable “intelligence” comes before launch. AI helps you:
- map typical questions and decision paths,
- organize the knowledge base and surface missing branches,
- optimize answer order and form (short, clear, with strong CTAs).
As a result, you don’t need heavy inference on-site: the kiosk plays a curated script that still behaves like a conversation — no gaps, no meandering.
How it flows: a session walkthrough
- Attract mode — attention-grabbing loop; start via button or presence detection (optional camera).
- Avatar intro — a short opener with topic proposals.
- Choices — large touch targets; optional speech/text depending on setup.
- Lead form — name, email, role, consent; synced to CRM and analytics.
- Idle reset — return to attract mode after inactivity.
Kiosk mechanics also include auto‑start/auto‑reset, optional touchless mode, QR codes, Terms/GDPR modal, and analytics events for every step (node enters, clicks, video ends, form submits).
What makes a difference on the floor
- Touch-first UX: large, high‑contrast buttons, readable fonts, clear states (pause, end, back), optional captions for noisy venues.
- Resilience: local video cache, informative mode when offline, queued events with reconnect.
- Kiosk mode and watchdog: fullscreen, locks, automatic restart after crash/inactivity.
- Hardware: touch display, speakers/mic, optional camera for auto‑start or footfall.
What the business sees (and measures)
AvatarSpark treats the kiosk as a decision data source — not just a pretty screen:
- KPIs: avatar launches, average session time, transition effectiveness between nodes, voice vs. touch share, A/B of different intros and CTAs.
- Event analytics: all interactions (node enters, clicks, forms) land in a session/event log.
- Panel and export: session/path views, marketing and sales metrics, fast follow‑up via integrations.
Outcome: more real conversations at the booth, less “flyering”, higher lead conversion, and a shorter path to sales meetings.
Why Avatar Story beats “interactive video”
“Interactive video” can look flashy but rarely reacts — any deviation from the script is costly. AvatarSpark designs a conversation like a product: with a decision map, quality control, analytics, and rapid iteration. The kiosk stops being just a screen and becomes a contact point.
For visitors, it feels like dialogue. For sales, it means leads and data. For marketing, measurable signals of what works — and what to improve.