NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study

Virtual assistants have become essential tools for improving productivity and efficiency in various domains. This paper presents NAIA (Nimble Artificial Intelligence Assistant), an advanced multi-role and multi-task virtual assistant enhanced with artificial intelligence, designed to serve a univers...

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Main Authors: Adrian Pabon Mendoza, Kenneth J. Barrios Quiroga, Samuel D. Solano Celis, Christian M. Quintero
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11121858/
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author Adrian Pabon Mendoza
Kenneth J. Barrios Quiroga
Samuel D. Solano Celis
Christian M. Quintero
author_facet Adrian Pabon Mendoza
Kenneth J. Barrios Quiroga
Samuel D. Solano Celis
Christian M. Quintero
author_sort Adrian Pabon Mendoza
collection DOAJ
description Virtual assistants have become essential tools for improving productivity and efficiency in various domains. This paper presents NAIA (Nimble Artificial Intelligence Assistant), an advanced multi-role and multi-task virtual assistant enhanced with artificial intelligence, designed to serve a university community case study. The system integrates AI technologies including Large Language Models (LLM), Computer Vision, and voice processing to create an immersive and efficient interaction through animated digital avatars. NAIA features five specialized roles: researcher, receptionist, personal skills trainer, personal assistant, and university guide, each equipped with specific capabilities to support different aspects of academic life. The system’s Computer Vision capabilities enable it to comment on users’ physical appearance and environment, enriching the interaction. Through natural language processing and voice interaction, NAIA aims to improve productivity and efficiency within the university environment while providing personalized assistance through a ubiquitous platform accessible across multiple devices. NAIA is evaluated through a user experience survey involving 30 participants with different demographic characteristics, this is the most accepted way by the community to evaluate this type of solution. Participants give their feedback after using one role of NAIA after using it for 30 minutes. The experiment showed that 90% of the participants considered NAIA-assisted tasks of higher quality and, on average, NAIA has a score of 4.27 out of 5 on user satisfaction. Participants particularly appreciated the assistant’s visual recognition, natural conversation flow, and user interaction capabilities. Results demonstrate NAIA’s capabilities and effectiveness across the five roles.
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institution Kabale University
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language English
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spelling doaj-art-4dfbb625d02c43e4926343e1dddc50462025-08-20T03:46:53ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011314146114148310.1109/ACCESS.2025.359756511121858NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case StudyAdrian Pabon Mendoza0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9554-1752Kenneth J. Barrios Quiroga1https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1374-284XSamuel D. Solano Celis2https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9707-9395Christian M. Quintero3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0918-9375Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaVirtual assistants have become essential tools for improving productivity and efficiency in various domains. This paper presents NAIA (Nimble Artificial Intelligence Assistant), an advanced multi-role and multi-task virtual assistant enhanced with artificial intelligence, designed to serve a university community case study. The system integrates AI technologies including Large Language Models (LLM), Computer Vision, and voice processing to create an immersive and efficient interaction through animated digital avatars. NAIA features five specialized roles: researcher, receptionist, personal skills trainer, personal assistant, and university guide, each equipped with specific capabilities to support different aspects of academic life. The system’s Computer Vision capabilities enable it to comment on users’ physical appearance and environment, enriching the interaction. Through natural language processing and voice interaction, NAIA aims to improve productivity and efficiency within the university environment while providing personalized assistance through a ubiquitous platform accessible across multiple devices. NAIA is evaluated through a user experience survey involving 30 participants with different demographic characteristics, this is the most accepted way by the community to evaluate this type of solution. Participants give their feedback after using one role of NAIA after using it for 30 minutes. The experiment showed that 90% of the participants considered NAIA-assisted tasks of higher quality and, on average, NAIA has a score of 4.27 out of 5 on user satisfaction. Participants particularly appreciated the assistant’s visual recognition, natural conversation flow, and user interaction capabilities. Results demonstrate NAIA’s capabilities and effectiveness across the five roles.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11121858/Virtual assistantartificial intelligencelarge language model (LLM)computer visiontext to speech (TTS)speech to text (STT)
spellingShingle Adrian Pabon Mendoza
Kenneth J. Barrios Quiroga
Samuel D. Solano Celis
Christian M. Quintero
NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study
IEEE Access
Virtual assistant
artificial intelligence
large language model (LLM)
computer vision
text to speech (TTS)
speech to text (STT)
title NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study
title_full NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study
title_fullStr NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study
title_full_unstemmed NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study
title_short NAIA: A Multi-Technology Virtual Assistant for Boosting Academic Environments—A Case Study
title_sort naia a multi technology virtual assistant for boosting academic environments x2014 a case study
topic Virtual assistant
artificial intelligence
large language model (LLM)
computer vision
text to speech (TTS)
speech to text (STT)
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11121858/
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