We've just released a web based chatbot we've done for Hanover Housing - a housing association group here in the UK. The Bot uses the same Discourse engine that drives our Second Life chatbots, and indeed the engine can drive the same bot in multiple worlds and on multiple web sites. The bot has already helped generate over 10,000 hits for the site, and gives users a plain language guide to Hanover Housing and the content of the web site - a key concern given the potential target audience. The bot uses the Sitepal system, which gives not only a flash based moving head-and-shoulders avatar, but also a text-to-speech engine so that every bot reply is said out loud - just right for those with poorer vision.
