A meeting with ObEN at CES showcased their artificial intelligence (AI) that allows users to create intelligent 3D avatars that look, sound, and behave like them. The Personal AI (PAI) technology enables users to create, use, and manage their own PAI on the secure, decentralized blockchain platform. These avatars can be headshots, what you might expect from a video call on a smartphone, or full-body augmented reality (AR) figures.

The intelligent avatars are set to bring immersive AI experiences to retail, real estate and hospitality applications. With a PAI concierge, customers could be provided with instantly current information, retail guides and shopping tips. A new project using the technology called AI Stars will create unique experiences featuring PAI doppelgängers of celebrities for consumers and retail outlets. Artificially intelligent agents have been around for a while, but never a combination of such advanced AI with a photo-realistic augmented reality presence.

At the same CES meeting the ObEN co-founders, Nikhil Jain and Adam Zheng described their hope that a PAI avatar might relieve the user of some of their responsibilities, leaving them with more time for family, friends, and other leisure activities. That leaves several things to consider, especially the idea that a “virtual stand-in” could take on common tasks, perhaps even speak on the user’s behalf. Alternatively, an AI avatar could simply be a source of information, as a hotel concierge or a celebrity advertisement for example.

ObEN’s Personal AI technology is expected to be available in early 2018. To learn more about ObEN, you can visit oben.com.