iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Many students wade through waist-deep water to head to neighbour's house for online classes
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Coronavirus: First-ever AI Santa Claus is coming to town for Christmas 2020
Los Angeles - Tech firm Storyfile is ensuring that kids who cannot meet Santa in person this year have a fun alternative to enjoy.
Santa cannot sit with kids in shopping malls this year, but they can still tell him their Christmas wishlist in a video chat at home.
Technology company Storyfile has come up with an artificial intelligence alternative to the holiday tradition: an interactive website where Father Christmas answers questions as if in person.
"The database has about 180, 200 questions so they can ask him quite a lot," said Storyfile Chief Executive Heather Smith. "The No. 1 question so far is 'Am I on the naughty or nice list?', of course."
Storyfile usually records interviews on camera with notable people such as scientists, astronauts, civil rights icons and Holocaust survivors. The answers are then prompted by voice activation on an app to give an almost seamless interaction with the subject.
Storyfile staff tested the app on children before launching AskSanta.com, which is live until New Year's Eve.
"The kids so far have just been amazed," said Smith. "They really think he's on FaceTime or something like that with them, which is the point, right? They're adorable. I love all the reactions."
Santa has already fielded many questions about the pandemic.
"If a child has asked me 'Santa, is there any chance that you might come down with coronavirus?', I tell them, like anybody else, I do exactly what I'm supposed to," he said.
"I wear my gloves, I wash my hands, I social distance, I wear my mask. I just reiterate the important things that they're hearing regularly."
Depending on the response to the free app, Santa's skills may be expanded to read out children's letters next year.
More news from
Hospitals brace for uptick in typhoid and bacterial infections; and mosquito- and fly-borne diseases like dengue
With 30% of their inventory damaged, owners of Preloved Books now face the daunting task of rebuilding from scratch
Five-time champions hold their nerve to claim victory by nine runs in the final over at Chandigarh
Natasha Abbas is a British civil engineer who co-founded North 51, a project management consultancy in Dubai
People who are assessing your qualifications can quickly tell the difference between an authentic life narrative and a third-party account
Arab-Canadian public speaking coach and author of The Million Dollar Speaker Maher Elusini on how to make your speech command value for time and money
The legendary Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis, who is all set to perform at the Dubai Opera next week, on music transcending cultural and language barriers
