Multilingual AI avatar replacing manual visitor guidance at a live healthcare conference

We built and deployed Paula – a voice-activated AI avatar stationed in the Pauls Health Area at the conference. Paula wasn’t a simple chatbot on a screen. She was a full conversational AI system handling natural spoken dialogue with conference visitors.

Automatic language detection and switching. Paula detected whether a visitor was speaking English or German and responded accordingly – no manual language selection needed. Visitors could even switch languages mid-conversation, and Paula followed seamlessly.

Wake-word activation with local processing. Interactions started with a simple “Hallo Paula.” The wake-word detection model ran locally on the device – no audio data sent to the cloud for activation. Paula also detected when a conversation had ended and deactivated automatically.

Event knowledge and function calling. Paula had access to the full event database – exhibitor details, the conference program, session times, and booth locations. Using LLM function calling, she could answer specific questions like “Which companies are presenting on digital pathology?” or “When is the next panel on AI in diagnostics?” and provide personalized recommendations based on visitor interests.

Dynamic visual display. During conversations, Paula identified visitor intent and displayed relevant exhibitor logos and additional information on screen – turning the interaction into a visual navigation experience, not just a voice exchange.

Real-time web search. Beyond event-specific questions, Paula could answer general knowledge queries using live web search – anything from local weather to factual questions – making her useful beyond just conference logistics.

Paula handled visitor interactions throughout the event, providing consistent, accurate information regardless of traffic volume. Attendees could get answers immediately without waiting in line or searching through printed programs. The multilingual capability was particularly well received by the international audience.

For exhibitors, Paula served as an additional discovery channel – actively directing visitors to relevant booths and sessions based on their stated interests, increasing visibility for participating companies.

The deployment demonstrated that conversational AI avatars can work reliably in challenging real-world conditions – not just quiet demo environments, but noisy, high-traffic live events with unpredictable user behavior.