Microsoft Agent

Microsoft provides examples on its website for the use of Agent.

Microsoft Agent is a technology developed by Microsoft which employs animated characters, text-to-speech engines, and speech recognition software to enhance interaction with computer users. Thus it is an example of an embodied agent. It comes preinstalled as part of Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions. Microsoft Agent functionality is exposed as an ActiveX control that can be used by web pages.

Version History

Microsoft Agent was first introduced in Microsoft Bob, which used an early version of Agent technology internally referred to as "Microsoft Actor." Microsoft Agent became popular as the initial version of the Office Assistant in Office 97, sometimes dubbed "Clippit" or "Clippy" after the ubiquitous paperclip Agent that shipped with the software. However, Bob Actors or Office 97 assistants are incompatible with Office 2000 and later versions, and vice-versa. The current version of Microsoft Agent was quietly released on MSDN in 1998. It was embedded in Microsoft Office using Visual Basic starting with Office 2000, although this use did not include Agent's much-touted speech synthesis or recognition capabilities.

Technology

Microsoft Agent characters are stored in files of the .ACS extension, and can be stored in a number of compressed .ACF files for better World Wide Web distribution. Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Bob Actor characters are stored in files of the .ACT extension.

The speech engine itself is driven by the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI), version 4 and above. Microsoft SAPI provides a control panel for easily installing and switching between various available Text to Speech and Speech to Text engines, as well as voice training and scoring systems to improve the quality and accuracy of both engines.

Microsoft makes four example Agents available for download at its developer web site. They also shipped with Microsoft Office up to version 2003 as the Office Assistants and with Windows XP as search assistants. New Agent characters can also be created using Microsoft's development tools, including the Agent Character Editor. Agents can be embedded in software with Visual Basic for Applications and in web pages with VBScript, and automated tools for the purpose of simplifying this exist. However, web page agents are only compatible with Internet Explorer, since alternative browsers like Opera or Mozilla Firefox do not support ActiveX. Additionally, users of Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and above or owners of Microsoft Office 2000 and up are the only ones who have Agent software pre-loaded on their computers; others have to download the software and install it manually.

License

Microsoft Agent's restrictive license has been criticized. It forbids, most notably, users of this program to publish anything that might say, "Disparage Microsoft, its products or services!"

The Free Microsoft Characters

Microsoft provides four agent characters for free, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Agent website. These are called Peedy, Merlin, Genie, and Robby.

Windows Vista changes

In Windows Vista, Microsoft Agent uses the Speech API (SAPI) version 5.3, which is also in-built in Windows Vista, as a primary Text-To-Speech provider. Previous versions of Microsoft Agent used the Speech API (SAPI) v4.

See also

• Office Assistant
• Microsoft Voice Command

External links

• Microsoft Agent Official Homepage at Microsoft.com
• TalkingBuddy Search Engine uses Microsoft Agent
• Deven Seven virtual newscaster and website guide uses Microsoft Agent
• Guile 3D Studio Photo-Realistic MSAgents