Why we made Digital Santa Claus, our jolliest ever AI experience

🎄 It was the week before Christmas, and all through the house, children were giddy for the arrival of Santa Claus.

And not just the kids, many adults were busy – planning and shopping until they were dizzy.

🎁 So while Santa was working, packing his sleigh, and getting things ready for Christmas Day,

We thought we could help, here at UneeQ, to spread festive cheer and help out St Nick.

🎅 A Digital Santa, wouldn’t that be grand? To help children and adults up and down the land.

Those who celebrate Christmas or who just want some fun, we wanted an experience enjoyed by everyone.

🔴 He has a big bushy beard and his signature clothes, as bright and as rosy as Rudolph’s red nose.

So without further adieu, here’s a festive encounter. Introducing you all to Digital Santa.

Introducing Digital Santa – a UneeQ AI Santa for all ages

Digital Santa is a lovingly recreated version of the iconic Christmas character. His purpose? To spread holiday cheer to all those who celebrate, and a fun experience even to those who don’t.

Digital Santa is a great conversationalist. He’ll ask you all about your festive plans and feelings. But he can do so much more.

Ask him to help you choose a gift. Tell him a little about the person you want to buy a present for, and he’ll use his big festive brain to search the internet for an ideal gift.

Just like the real Santa, our AI version knows what’s trendy at this time of year, so he can make recommendations we think your friends or family will love.

But most of all, Santa is the perfect experience for the children in your life. Some of our early users told their children they were “FaceTiming” Santa, and their young ones gave great feedback. Start by telling Santa your name and he’ll even use it in conversation, for that extra touch of magic.

Why we made a digital human Santa

We know that the best digital human experiences combine a distinct personality, a capacity to help people find information, and an element of fun. 

So Santa Claus jumped out at us as a prime example of a persona to get the digital human treatment.

Originally we designed him for internal use, so our fellow UneeQ staff could share them with their kids and young members of their family. The results were so overwhelmingly positive, we want to share him far and wide this holiday season.

What technology makes our AI Santa possible

Santa’s digital human creation process was similar to our enterprise projects. Our artists worked to a design brief, with our team sending images of the type of Santa we wished to design – a fluffy beard, full face, a magical glint in the eye, and the iconic clothing we loved as children.

Designed in Unreal Engine, we then deployed Synanim™ to bring St Nick to life, with the expressions, gestures, and movements that make him feel like the real thing.

At the same time, we replicated Santa’s personality using Synapse™, meaning we were able to quickly:

• Create prompts to showcase Santa’s iconic jolly personality.
• Create guardrails so Santa doesn’t go off-brand and ruin anyone’s Christmas.
• Integrate a world-class ElevenLabs voice that does justice to his realistic appearance.
• Allow him to recommend gifts for people by searching trusted online sources.
• Pronounce certain words correctly, like UneeQ 😉

Lastly, our web SDK allowed us to quickly deploy him online, so we could test and eventually launch him to our families and friends. And now you!

We’d love to hear how you find your interaction with Digital Santa. Feel free to share your story with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X, or BlueSky.