Area software developer creates computerized car salespeople

Realistic avatars allow customers to personalize the online buying experience.

By Thomas Gnau

Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

OAKWOOD — As you shop for a new car, a blond woman with a low-cut blouse asks for your ZIP code.

She can apply your locality's tax rules to your auto purchase, you're told.  Then she smiles.  "How's that for artificially intelligent?" she asks in dulcet tones.

It's no put-on. The "lady" is a three-dimensional computer avatar meant to humanize the experience of buying a car online.  A text-to-speech engine provides her simulated voice.

Eighteen months in the making, the software package was brought together by Ai-Dealer, using realistic computer images licensed by Freedom, Calif.-based Haptek Inc.

Brian Hoecht, 41, Ai-Dealer chief executive, markets and helps develop the software.

"Miami Valley, Silicon Valley — what's the difference?" Hoecht said with a laugh.

While buying cars online isn't new, being guided in the process by "Cleopatra" or "Trinity" — names for two of Ai-Dealer's avatar images — is.

So far, Joseph Airport Toyota is the only dealership to have the software operating on its Web sites. The program is meant to roughly follow the workflow of an in-person purchase — all from a shopper's desk or laptop, with a Windows-powered PC. (The program does not work with Macs.)

Buyers nail down interest rates and credit ratings, enter trade-in values, choose vehicle accessories and more. While no one has used the software to actually buy a vehicle yet, Matt Reasoner, general manager of Joseph Airport, is confident.

"In time, this will be like sliced bread," Reasoner said.

He sees the potential, but Reasoner wants more from the software. He wants to obtain shoppers' phone numbers and e-mail addresses through the program. He needs a definitive way to determine trade-in values, and he would like the package to keep up with manufacturer incentives and residual lease charges.

Reasoner praised Hoecht for responding quickly to ideas and issues.

"We get good responses (from potential customers), and I think as we go along and make it more user-friendly and easier, we will get more," Reasoner said.

Not interested in having a blonde or a female lead you to your next car? Then how about Santa? The software lets you select from a line of men and women in professional and casual attire, including St. Nick.

"People will pick the faces they are comfortable with," Hoecht said.

Hoecht, a certified public accountant, is marketing the software to dealers across the country. He offers a 50-mile franchise territory. Joseph Airport, for example, will be the only Toyota dealer within 50 miles to offer this online buying experience.