The existing kiosks were inconvenient because people had to adapt to the machine. It's convenient to place orders in real-time while talking with an artificial intelligence (AI) avatar.
On the 5th, I met Lee Yu-jin, 27, at the 'GGLS' store located in Sinsa-dong, Seoul. The building's exterior, packed with pink rubber gloves, caught the attention of passersby. Upon entering, large digital signage displayed colorful rubber gloves, and the AI avatar on the kiosk screen was waving its hand. It felt more like being at a pop-up store than a regular shop.
GGLS is an unmanned store opened by GoodGangLabs on the 28th of last month. Customers can purchase items through the AI avatar staff created by GoodGangLabs. GoodGangLabs chose 'MamiSon,' a kitchenware company, as the first brand partner for GGLS. GGLS sold out 1,500 rubber gloves within just 10 hours of opening.
Customers could see the actual products for sale on the left wall of the store. The items on sale were MamiSon's pink rubber gloves and GoodGangLabs' AI avatar 'Nalnani' keychain. When approaching the kiosk, the AI avatar asks, 'How can I assist you?' It supports not only Korean but also English, Japanese, and Chinese. When customers mention the item they need and follow the AI avatar's instructions for payment, the order is completed. The ordered product then appears on the rail of the right wall. It took less than a minute to purchase the actual product.
The kiosk with the AI avatar from GGLS does not require people to adapt intentionally. Existing kiosks have a complicated structure for finding menus, selecting items, choosing options, adding to the cart, confirming orders, selecting payment methods, and completing payments. However, the kiosk equipped with GoodGangLabs' technology allows customers to simply speak their orders as if they were ordering from a person. Customers can place their orders while having a natural conversation with the AI avatar displayed on the screen. Not only can they make simple orders, but they can also inquire and receive consultations.
GoodGangLabs developed a small language model (SLM) by fine-tuning OpenAI's Whisper voice recognition model. Due to the nature of the SLM, the more conversations it has with customers, the more it improves its functions based on the learned data. Voice recognition (STT) technology was implemented to ensure the kiosk accurately recognizes customers' voices. To enable the AI avatar to perform motions and deliver sound effectively, they applied their own motion generation technology and text-to-speech (TTS) technology. As a result, the response speed of the AI avatar ordering solution is within 1.5 seconds, with an accuracy rate of over 99.8%.
Customers met on-site agreed that the new store format was refreshing. Those who visited the store that day were mostly in their 20s and 30s. Kim Min-chan, 32, said, 'I was surprised to learn that an unmanned store was selling items with AI,' adding, 'It's refreshing to see an unmanned store with trendy interiors in the middle of Garosu-gil in Seoul selling rubber gloves.'
GoodGangLabs predicted that AI services have evolved from chatbots to voicebots and that an era of communication through AI avatars will come. According to market research firm Grand View Research, the global digital avatar market is estimated to be worth $18.19 billion (24 trillion won) in 2023.
GoodGangLabs CEO Ahn Du-gyeong noted, 'In the future, communication between people and AI will advance based on AI avatars, just like conversations between people.' He added, 'It is expected to have great potential for use in various places such as community service centers and stores.'