Vactoria Verhoeven is a digital AI host that sees exhibition visitors, addresses them, and answers questions about machinery and vacuum cooling technology. By combining speech, animation, and camera detection, a character was created that not only provided information, but also gave visitors a genuine feeling of being personally addressed.
“Not an information screen where you look something up, but a digital host that initiates the conversation itself.”
Our challenge
Verhoeven Family of Companies wanted to showcase at the trade show the role an AI assistant can play in the future when advising on machinery and production processes. At the same time, the presentation needed to be accessible and engaging for passing exhibition visitors without requiring extensive explanations.
Onze oplossing
We ontwikkelden Vactoria Verhoeven: een geanimeerd digitaal personage dat op een groot scherm werd weergegeven. Vactoria kon zelf een gesprek initiëren, vragen beantwoorden en proactief informatie delen over de machines en oplossingen van Verhoeven.
Her personality, tone of voice, and knowledge were aligned with the brand in advance. Parameters were also established defining what information she could and could not share, and when it was better to refer a visitor to a staff member at the booth.
She sees you
Using a camera, Vactoria was able to detect when someone walked past the booth and where this person was standing. Her head and eyes then moved along, making it appear as though she was looking directly at the visitor.
Vactoria did not need to identify visitors to do this. Only their position in front of the screen was used. It was precisely this simple form of eye contact that made the digital character feel much more like a present host.
When no conversation was taking place yet, Vactoria could draw attention herself and invite visitors to ask a question.
Simply ask a question out loud
Visitors could speak directly to Vactoria via a microphone. The spoken question was converted into text and displayed on the screen. Afterwards, Vactoria showed through her body language that she was listening and thinking, before giving a spoken response.
Her answer also appeared as text on the screen. This made the experience easy to follow on a noisy trade show floor.
Various animation layers brought the character further to life:
· Her posture changed while waiting, listening, thinking, and answering.
· Her facial expression adapted to the situation.
· Her mouth movements synced with the spoken words.
· Her eyes and head tracked the visitor’s position.
Furthermore, the assistant could recognize the spoken language and continue the conversation in that same language.
Product knowledge with its own personality
Vactoria was not a generic chatbot. She was specifically provided with information about Verhoeven’s machinery, applications, and benefits. Her internal conversation flow ensured that answers remained short and clear, and that she asked a relevant follow-up question where necessary.
When a question fell outside her available knowledge, she could indicate this or refer the visitor to a product specialist. In this way, she supported the booth crew without pretending to have an answer for everything.
The visual space-theme served as a nod to the organization’s technological background and gave Vactoria a striking, recognizable look.
A personal gateway to a technical story
Vactoria turned product information into a conversation. Instead of searching through long texts or product pages themselves, visitors could simply ask a question. The direct eye contact and natural speech made the threshold to start extra low.
This turned the AI assistant into an eye-catcher, information point, and icebreaker for further conversations with staff members at the booth all at once.
