The secret life of avatars

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, Sept, 2002

Talking with William Plant, ceo of Global Matrix, is a little like talking to--well, since Plant has that nice British accent--like talking to 007. For instance, he's got a website, but it isn't public. Pie's got a very hot new avatar product--it's currently being used by more than a million students in the London school system, and the U.S. Department of Education is considering his avatar as a way of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to Spanish-speaking students--but Plant doesn't really like to talk specifically about what the avatar can do. It's a little like wearing a blindfold in Q' s workshop--there's obviously something very cool going on technologically, but it's darned hard to find out what it is.

The Global Matrix avatars are literally fake online teachers that can 'recreate' what real teachers do at the pace of the student. The avatars combine sophisticated technology from a myriad of sources, including US intelligence agencies, a high level of adaptive learning interactivity, and are based on solid research into how children learn. One reason Global Matrix is so secretive, Plant apologizes, is that a number of patents for the product are currently under review. But here's what he will say: Global Matrix will revolutionize learning in all areas. Plant believes the sophisticated avatars have enormous ramifications for every single interaction in which human beings need to learn a new skill--from learning how to read, to getting a driver's license, to learning how to do algebra.

Is that Miss Piggy Teaching Math?

Plant is the former head of production at Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London, and over the years, he has picked up a thing or two about synthetic--albeit very sympathetic--characters that help kids learn. He says he learned the value of character from Henson, but "the other great lesson I learned from Jim Henson was that millions of people are behind in the digital race," Plant says. "That's why our avatars are as difficult to use as a Fisher Price toy. There's a zero learning curve."

The avatar acts like a nurturing teacher, always patient and able to go at the child's speed and to catch any failings in the child's root knowledge. In the London schools model, Mrs. Jones can record her own voice or simply jot down notes that are transferred to simple 'talking post-it notes' that prompt children who get stuck along the way in a lesson. In the online demo that I saw, the avatar responds to questions typed in by the student. But Plant says the company has also developed a more advanced 'adaptive' feature that can figure out exactly where the child first had trouble in a lesson, bringing the child back to that spot until he or she masters it. So, for instance, if Mrs. Jones is teaching her third graders about fractions and Sammy can't master 1/10, the program can bring Sammy all the way back to the point where he first learned to count out ten apples. The avatar can be made to look like Mrs. Jones and sound like Mrs. Jones--but is probably a lot more patient and has more time to go back over l essons than Mrs. Jones.

Of course, Sammy may not even like Mrs. Jones, and Plant agrees that a furry, lovable character like Elmo might be a lot more fun as a math teacher. In fact, Global Matrix believes trademarked characters may be one future revenue stream. But Plant doesn't downplay the importance of kids using their own creativity--he thinks the biggest draw of all might be for children to be able to create their own, customized teachers. "One of the patented capabilities of the avatar is the ability to create a personality and imbue it with an intelligence," he says, though he maintains that he is "not talking about replacing teachers."

What he does want to replace is the homogeneity of some classrooms. Plant is very excited about the fact that his avatar can adapt culturally and racially to a diverse audience. An ESL student from India, for example, and an ESL student from Norway could take the same course and would see two entirely different teacher 'characters', with cultural references that made sense to each student according to his or her background, speaking either Norwegian or Hindu. Plant says Global Matrix is currently piloting a touch-screen kiosk in Nottingham, England using culturally appropriate characters for users.

Scale Models

The avatar has been in development for more than three years, and was funded privately. The interface is as "open as possible", so that it will work easily with the knowledge bases that educators have already built, and requires relatively low bandwidth. Plant isn't sure yet what the pricing model will be, but thinks the education model will probably be about $12 to $16 per student, per course, with a toolset that can be ramped up and ready to go quickly. The toolset is required to author the content into the Global Matrix system, and create an intelligent avatar experience, and will be a shrink wrapped product.

Plant says that he's got a proven system, some impressive paying clients and the company's financials are looking good even in the wake of the dot.com bust. He's interested in strategic investment partners at this stage of the game, and is especially interested in forging a relationship with a high profile client or two that will not only bring something to the table for the next iteration of the avatar, but who would also be interested in deploying it for their own use.