Meet Futura, the AI-driven tour expert enhancing cruise experiences
How we improved Costa Crociere’s onboard experiences with an intelligent 3D digital human.
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THE CHALLENGE
Designing a customized and emotionally responsive digital tour guide for cruise passengers.
SCENARIO
Towards immersive cruises
In the highly competitive cruise industry, Costa Crociere sought to set a new standard for passenger engagement and satisfaction. Recognizing the growing demand for personalized and immersive experiences, it aimed to introduce a digital assistant that could provide tailored tourist information and excursion recommendations.
The challenge extended beyond merely informing passengers - it was about creating a connection, engaging with them on an emotional level to ensure a memorable and fulfilling journey. This ambitious project has been deployed on Costa Smeralda, the flagship of Costa Crociere’s fleet, sailing through the Mediterranean Sea.
THE SOLUTION
Futura: 3D and AI for a seamless experience
Reply introduced Futura, a 3D digital human, as Costa Smeralda's digital tour expert, offering valuable support to the ship’s crew. Leveraging NVIDIA ACE for dynamic facial animation and lip sync, Futura provides personalized recommendations and information to passengers, fostering a more engaging interaction. Futura offers support in six languages: Italian, English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. It helps guests plan their visits to each port, providing recommendations based on their profiles and preferences. Futura identifies and proposes personalized itineraries and proactively suggests the best tours organized by Costa Crociere, making the vacation experience richer and simpler in all aspects of logistics. Guests can book their favorite excursions directly through Futura with just a few taps.
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FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS
Combining affective computing and NVIDIA ACE
The development of Futura started with an in-depth analysis of passenger needs and behaviors, which guided the design of its functionalities. To enable Futura to recognize and interpret emotional cues, affective computing was employed, leveraging sophisticated algorithms and machine learning models. NVIDIA ACE is a suite of technologies that helps bring digital humans to life. Futura uses two ACE technologies, NVIDIA Audio2Face NIM and Riva ASR NIM, and leverages GPT-4o, llama-index for RAG, and Azure TTS for speech synthesis. Generative AI algorithms were adopted to facilitate natural language communication, making information exchange simple and bidirectional. This allows Futura to use feedback to refine recommendations over time. Additionally, a specially created knowledge base was developed to provide informative presentations on individual cities, enriching the range of touristic itineraries.
Higher levels of satisfaction through personalized interactions
Greater engagement with emotionally intelligent responses
Better planning and booking experiences for passengers
Positive reception of natural and empathetic communication
Costa Crociere is an Italian company, headquartered in Genoa, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise group. For more than 75 years, Costa ships have been plying the seas of the world, taking guests to more than 200 different destinations to be discovered through unique experiences, both on board and ashore. Currently the Costa fleet consists of 9 ships, all flying the Italian flag, sailing in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and the United Arab Emirates, Far-East, South-East Asia, as well as offering "Around the World" and "Grand Cruises," to visit different continents in a single vacation.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest global cruise company and among the largest leisure travel companies, with a portfolio of world-class cruise lines – AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.