> http://www.sparkingtogether.com/

Does anyone have a clue what this new “Sparking Together” initiative, apparently from Adele Robots (AdeleRobots.com), is all about ??

They’ve got Twitter, Facebook, and some really wacky videos on YouTube ..

> http://twitter.com/Sparking2gether

> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sparking-Together/180513272042574

> http://www.youtube.com/user/SparkingTogether

They seem to be trying to pull together some kind of new robot community ..

This reminds me of the recent “Project Aigo” from Peter Voss of AdaptiveAI.com to solicit volunteers to help build up their domain specific knowledgebases and ontologies ..

> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/projectAigo

Are things starting to break out all over ??  ;^)

I registered and checked the video about the spark and the giants until the very end.

What a weird video indeed. :-s

Sophisticated children’s stories at best

OK, I’ll give you a hand, because I think you are a bit lost here.

Laura, it has nothing to do with children.

The stories have an underlying meaning that maybe is a bit difficult to get and to link with virtual assistants and artificial intelligence.

We assure you it’s about getting better avatars than the ones we see around the internet.
FIONA offers something that doesn’t exist yet and that will take us one step closer to the real artificial intelligence.

So, we encourage every member in Chatbots to join us in http://sparkingtogether.com/ and see what happens next month.

We’ll keep you inform also in Twitter: @Sparking2gether

Don’t forget: Only dreamers have the gift to create a better world. 

Actually I totally understood the marketing message that you were attempting to convey in your video. The comment that I made about children’s stories was more about the production value than the message.

I will stay tuned for your next pitch.

> better avatars

Now there’s a clue!  Better avatars are sorely needed!  Personally, I would prefer to focus almost entirely on tooling my intelligence (domain specific conversational expert systems).  I really find the lack of adequate visual and voice tools extremely distracting. 

For instance, if we look at the SitePal model….  I would like better, more realistic avatars, perhaps full page, desktop, and mobile.  (Don’t forget the Skype model could bypass web, desktop, and mobile altogether! ;^))  I want complete voice-interactivity, TTS + STT.  I also require a cheaper monthly cost than SitePal.  ;^)  I think it should not be forgotten that a really good avatar system would be at least somewhat customizable, in terms features, hairstlyes, clothes, etc.

IMHO, any better avatar/voice technology should be DIVORCED from intelligence, and have a completely pluggable backend for ANY current “AI engine” (aka chatbot).

YES!!!

We share the same vision, and that is the way we are following. It is not easy but we are working hard to get it done!
The pricing plan is not yet closed, but we have thought on a revenue share model that may satisfy you.

March 31st it the date for the first release for beta testers. We definitely want you become one of them, Marcus!

Spread the word!

I’ve received some more detail about FIONA from Patricia Lopez of SparkingTogether.  (It’s still not clear to me whether it’s called FIONA or SparkingTogether….)  Apparently, FIONA will be something like an appstore, or API store, for cloud robotics, along the lines of MyRobots, StrongSteam, and Mashape.  Supposedly the “sparks” being the individual modular contributions.  What is not yet clear is whether it will be a closed or open ecosystem….

Just a reminder, this subject will be the topic of my presentation this month in Philadelphia at the Chatbots 3.2 Conference - Fifth Colloquium on Conversational Systems, “Open Chatbot Standards for a Modular Chatbot Framework”.  Basically, I’ll be talking about the massive “Lego-ization” of cloud robotics, and a DIY Siri or Watson for everyman….  ;^)

=> http://chatbots32.eventbrite.com

I’m looking forward to hearing your presentation in person, Marcus, and also to meeting you in person.

Marcus Endicott - Mar 19, 2012:

I’ve received some more detail about FIONA from Patricia Lopez of SparkingTogether.  (It’s still not clear to me whether it’s called FIONA or SparkingTogether….)  Apparently, FIONA will be something like an appstore, or API store, for cloud robotics, along the lines of MyRobots, StrongSteam, and Mashape.  Supposedly the “sparks” being the individual modular contributions.  What is not yet clear is whether it will be a closed or open ecosystem….

Received this information as well. I’ve invited Patricia for a Skype call to explain a bit more. You might want to join this Skype conference as well, if Patricia is open to that idea.

http://sparkingtogether.blogspot.com

>>
Fiona stands for Framework for Interactive-services Over Natural-conversational Agents. It is a collaborative platform to deliver interactive avatars that could be used in many devices, like kiosk, mobile phones or browsers. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.
<<

Erwin Van Lun - Mar 20, 2012:

Marcus Endicott - Mar 19, 2012:

I’ve received some more detail about FIONA from Patricia Lopez of SparkingTogether.  (It’s still not clear to me whether it’s called FIONA or SparkingTogether….)  Apparently, FIONA will be something like an appstore, or API store, for cloud robotics, along the lines of MyRobots, StrongSteam, and Mashape.  Supposedly the “sparks” being the individual modular contributions.  What is not yet clear is whether it will be a closed or open ecosystem….

Received this information as well. I’ve invited Patricia for a Skype call to explain a bit more. You might want to join this Skype conference as well, if Patricia is open to that idea.

We would love the idea of having a Skype call together with you and Marcus to exchange some ideas about FIONA, but first we’ll explain you what’s FIONA with more details

The new website is out! Take a look to find more information about Fiona!

http://www.sparkingtogether.com/

Keep Sparking Together!

Thank you for the heads up. I like the layout, look and feel of the site, and the content is interesting and engaging. That said, however, I have a couple of suggestions:

1.) When looking at the site from a laptop, the site looks a bit cramped. I can imagine what it would look like from a tablet or a device with a much smaller screen. Perhaps it might be wise to consider designing the page around a smaller portal size, and letting the layout grow if it can, rather than starting out big, and having no means to “shrink” to fit a smaller window size. Just a thought.

2.) This is not meant to be insulting in any way, but it’s clear to me that the creator of the text content does not speak English natively. This is not a terribly major issue, but many folks (myself included) will find the linguistic inconsistencies to be distracting, and in some instances may deter folks from getting involved. Again, just something to consider.

Dave Morton - Jun 19, 2012:

Thank you for the heads up. I like the layout, look and feel of the site, and the content is interesting and engaging. That said, however, I have a couple of suggestions:

1.) When looking at the site from a laptop, the site looks a bit cramped. I can imagine what it would look like from a tablet or a device with a much smaller screen. Perhaps it might be wise to consider designing the page around a smaller portal size, and letting the layout grow if it can, rather than starting out big, and having no means to “shrink” to fit a smaller window size. Just a thought.

2.) This is not meant to be insulting in any way, but it’s clear to me that the creator of the text content does not speak English natively. This is not a terribly major issue, but many folks (myself included) will find the linguistic inconsistencies to be distracting, and in some instances may deter folks from getting involved. Again, just something to consider.

Thank you for your feedback Dave.

About the first point, we have much work to do and we just wanted to launch the website with the information needed to understand the project, so I think we had a bit of a hurry to share the information.

About the second point, yes you are right, it is not written by a native English speaker and we are aware of that. We’ll sort it out ASAP!

Always happy to help where I can.

If I had more time (or fewer priority projects) I would offer to help with editing the text content, but alas, that’s just not possible for me at this point in time. Right now, I’m headed to bed, and a 1 1/2 hour nap before “tomorrow” begins.