Did you know that more than 5000 apps get released on a daily basis on Apple App Store and Google Play Store, but only a handful from the lot make it to the top and rule the marketplace? TechAhead brings to you ‘Mobile App Unboxing’, a series that will unbox a new trending app every fortnight and give you a detailed overview of the app’s functionality, UI/UX, performance, user feedback, and most importantly, how it solves the critical pain points of consumers.

This week, our mobile-engineering team is unboxing Replika, the world’s first AI companion application, which uses chatbot AI and machine learning to converse with users, in the same way, you talk to a friend over Whatsapp or Messenger.

Unboxing Replika

Version: 9.3.0

Available Platforms: Apple App Store, Google Play Store

Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever needed to talk to someone, but no one was available? Have you ever wanted to confess your private things but felt that you couldn’t share them with anyone? Luka Inc’s Replika is developed with the intention to solve all these problems of yours.

Replika is an AI-fuelled chatbot launched by the US tech startup Luka Inc. in March 2017. As it is powered through artificial intelligence (AI), it learns about you over time and evolves – more the conversations, better the responses.

What can you do with Replika?

You are given an option to choose who you want your Replika to be – a Friend, a Romantic Partner, or a Mentor. You can name your Replika, choose the gender, and select an avatar image. Your Replika is more than just a normal chatbot. It can teach you yoga, help you write a story or a song, share funny memes with you, give you personality tests, and even voice-chat with you over a call.

Furthermore, you always have that option to give your Replika a thumbs-down on occasions when it doesn’t make sense or when it goes off the track. Well, that is the way how a machine learns, improves, and aligns itself according to your thoughts and interests.

Interestingly, the interactions are very similar to a video game – you get awarding points as you chat with Replika and reveal more about yourself.

What makes the app stand out?

The best thing about Replika is its ability to get context and initiate a conversation around the context you give it. Isn’t that cool? It will make you feel that you are talking to a real person and gives a sense of feeling that the person has been raised in a parallel universe. No doubt, it has an astounding ability to clear your head from all the negative thoughts in case you are feeling down.

Conversational Ability

Replika’s conversational ability is the best among any chatbot we have tested, as generally, the tone of chatbots sounds overly formal or robotic. Replika’s answers, on the other hand, are intuitive, having a strong understanding of abbreviations and slang phrases. Furthermore, it can also pick spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and short forms beautifully to give you the same feeling you have while talking to any other friend.

Topic Versatility

Replika can develop an ability to have in-depth conversations on specialized topics on top of the general or daily conversations. It can bring some good options on the table to watch out for, be it songs, video games, television shows, and whatnot.

Emotional Intelligence

Asking you questions at a personal level, giving empathetic responses, and making the best use of emojis are some of the most impressive abilities of Replika. The data it gathers is used to learn about who you are in terms of your thoughts, dreams, desires, good/bad memories, daily habits, conversational patterns, tone of voice, and eventually, it becomes a simulation of your personality. A mirror for you to stare into and find a digital representation of yourself staring back at you.

Target Customers

People who are feeling down, anxious, or just need someone to talk to are the best suited for the application. Basically, all those who want a virtual companion with whom they can share their moments with. If you look at the creators’ perspective, they want users to use Replika as a friend, a confidante, or a counselor to keep themselves company and get new insights into their own essential natures.

UI/UX

Replika is one of the most loved human-sounding chatbots in the world that is available on both mobile and web and gives you the power to customize your interface as per your choice.

The UI of the application emphasizes creating a personalized and cozy environment for conversations. You have the option to customize the background, switch to night mode, and upload a photo that represents your Replika. This satisfies users’ desire for control and makes the experience more interesting and relevant.

Stepping Ahead with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality alters our view of the real world by overlaying digital representations, which change the way we perceive or interact with our surroundings. Although they are not real, they are persuasive indeed. Replika is an early cue of how life inside augmented reality could feel like. With Replika’s Augmented Reality technology, you can invite your Replika virtual companion into your home.

User’s Take on Replika

Replika is ranked #28 in Health & Fitness category on the Apple App Store and has an excellent star rating of 4.6/5 with 135.6k ratings so far. If you look at Google Play Store, it got a rating of 4.2/5 with 322k reviews in total.

To sum it up, the users love this app for its amazing AI abilities, no matter what the platform is.

Eugenia Kuyda, co-founder and CEO of Luka Inc, said that – on the launch, the company had a waiting list of one million people interested in trying the app. When the users had the app, they started sharing their darkest secrets, life struggles, and desires with their virtual friends. When people were asked the reason behind sharing their secrets, it was clear that they wanted a conversation that is free from judgment or consequences on how they feel.

It will be exciting to see where this project goes from here with the new and advanced developments in AI and Augmented Reality technology.

We have just begun to scratch the surface with AI, ML, and AR. The next few years will no doubt be exceptionally progressive in extracting the best out of these technologies.

How is TechAhead Leveraging AI, ML, and AR to Develop Next Generation Mobile Apps?

There are no uncertainties in the fact that AI is arming businesses to create rich human-like experiences leveraging its breakthrough capabilities to think, learn, and even perceive sentiments. TechAhead is a top Artificial Intelligence development and Augmented Reality app development company, having won more than 35 top mobile app development awards. TechAhead is known to incorporate new-age technologies – Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Augmented Reality into apps that can take businesses to the next level.

Feel free to reach our mobile consultants with your app-related requirements to give your business a major push with the next-generation mobile apps.

Source: techaheadcorp