Zoo Atlanta has introduced the new AI-powered Animal Assistant to help visitors find and learn about its animals. The Animal Assistant was built by conversational AI developer Satisfi Labs, which plans to expand the platform to other zoos and aquariums around the country.
How does ANIMAL ASSISTANT help visitors at the zoo?
Satisfi designed the Animal Assistant as an interactive replacement for the paper maps and guidebooks offered by most zoos. The AI is embedded in Zoo Atlanta’s website and uses Satisfi’s natural language processing to answer questions about what animals are around, where specific exhibits are located, and a wealth of facts and information about the creatures pulled from the zoo’s database.
What is the benefit over traditional maps?
The virtual zoo tour guide has the added benefit of being much easier to update than paper maps as the zoo adjusts its exhibits and events. That includes sharing updates about feedings and other activities happening that day at the zoo. Users can even send a donation for a specific habitat in the zoo using Animal Assistant.
“The Animal Assistant truly takes the zoo and aquarium experience to the next level,” Zoo Atlanta vice president of membership and guest experience Shawn Whitman, said. “We are always looking for ways to improve the visitor experience and make it more educational and seamless. Satisfi Labs’ Animal Assistant product does just that.”
Are there other applications for this technology?
Satisfi bills itself as a platform for destinations and experiences so a zoo AI tour guide makes sense. Zoo Atlanta is something of a pilot test before other zoos and aquariums implement the tech, but the startup has other plans in the works. Most recently, All 120 Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams recently added a Satisfi Labs chatbot to answer fan questions and sell tickets. The company also shepherded the launch of voice apps for Google Assistant and Alexa for more than a dozen individual Major League Baseball teams.
Satisfi also works to bring conversational AI to Broadway shows and other events, with demand spiking when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“We are incredibly proud to launch the Animal Assistant,” Satisfi Labs CEO Don White said. “Through this product, we built a way to quickly and comprehensively train animal and habitat knowledge so zoos and aquariums can further leverage the power of our NLP. We are confident the Animal Assistant will have an incredibly positive impact on guests’ visits to the zoo and aquarium, and we look forward to seeing how it improves the overall experience.”
