Extempo Announces Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack; Interactive Web Characters Build Relationships Between Businesses and Consumers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2000

In a unique blend of technology, psychology, business, and art, Extempo Systems, Inc. announced today the launch of two interactive Web Characters -- Mr. Clean(TM), the Household Cleaning Expert and Host of his own Web Site for Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG); and Virtual Jack(TM), the Canine Mascot for pet supply e-tailer Petopia.com.

"We are delighted to put Extempo's interactive character software and character-making expertise behind Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack," said Extempo CEO Barbara Hayes-Roth. "Now consumers everywhere can interact with these appealing characters and enjoy their helpful services on the Web."

Characters Engage Consumers With Personality and Service

Mr. Clean: According to Procter & Gamble researchers, 98% of Americans need no introduction to Mr. Clean. But for the first time, consumers can talk to him. Welcoming "fellow cleaners" to www.mrclean.com, Mr. Clean shares his expertise and tips from his online database to help solve household cleaning problems. Now that he has broken his many years of silence, Mr. Clean also likes to chat with consumers and get to know them. He will answer questions about himself, his cleaning habits, his family and friends, even his taste in fashion. He may ask a few questions of his own too, so that he can personalize his services to each individual consumer. "The re-launch of mrclean.com is a great example of how technology can enable us to build better relationships with our consumers," said John Studer, Associate Director, Information Technology, P&G. "An icon with 42 years of great equity combined with a great new interactive tool is truly a winning combination."

Virtual Jack: Like Jack, the Wheaten Terrier owned by Petopia.com CEO Andrea Reisman, Virtual Jack entertains himself and his visitors with doggy tricks -- retrieving sticks, catching Frisbees, and jumping through hoops. The main difference between the two is Virtual Jack can talk. Welcoming "two-legged friends" at www.petopia.com, Virtual Jack answers questions, shares pet facts, explains Petopia.com's services, and provides navigation assistance. Being a friendly pup, Jack also likes to chat about himself and his friends, and share his animal stories, jokes and haikus. "Extempo's innovative technology provides Virtual Jack with the ability to actually respond to and interact with visitors to the Petopia.com Web site," said Andrea Reisman, CEO of Petopia.com. "Extempo has a talented team of engineers and content developers that have enabled us to bring our Virtual Jack concept to life."

Powered by Extempo(TM)

Extempo's patented Imp Character Technology(TM) provides software "minds" for Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack, giving these characters their abilities to understand, feel, think, say, and do. The characters interact with consumers through natural-language conversation, animated body language, and electronic actions, such as changing a Web page, running an application, accessing information in a database, or accessing or recording information in a consumer profile. Extempo collaborated with Procter & Gamble and Petopia.com to create their characters' distinctive personalities and job expertise. Extempo Character Maker Hallie Kushner commented: "It was exciting to create an interactive character for a brand celebrity like Mr. Clean and also to create a new character based on a real pet like Jack." Procter & Gamble's Michael Doherty, Associate Director, Information Technology, said, "Extempo's authoring tools provide powerful capabilities for bringing virtual characters to life. And they're technically rich enough to let authors extend the basic interactive paradigms." Like all Extempo-powered characters, Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack will improve over time through new content developed by their authors and learning from the customers they meet.

Extempo recruited Sherer Digital Animation (www.shererdigital.com) to build animated bodies for Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack. "Extempo offered us a unique opportunity to create 3-D characters who could express their personalities interactively," commented Steve Sherer, CEO. "Sherer did a great job meeting our specifications," said Extempo Project Manager Corey Fugman. "They built wonderfully expressive animations, which Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack use to enhance their communications and connect emotionally with consumers."

Microsoft Agent (www.microsoft.com/msagent) bundled with Lernout & Hauspie's(TM) text-to-speech engine (www.lhsl.com) was chosen as the client-side technology to provide animation and text-to-speech services for these two characters. "Microsoft Agent provides developers and Web authors with an exciting new technology that can significantly enhance the experience of using a computer with a more personal and natural form of interaction," said Tandy Trower, general manager of the Advanced User Interface Design Group at Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT). "We congratulate Extempo and Sherer Digital on their successful collaboration to bring Microsoft Agent to these two prominent Web sites in such an effective and compelling implementation."

Building Relationships Between Businesses and Consumers

Extempo-powered characters like Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack enable businesses to offer their Web customers the same valuable services and high-touch relationships offered by dedicated sales assistants in brick-and-mortar stores. Extempo's characters communicate easily through conversation and gesture. They inform and assist customers, answer their questions, and make helpful suggestions. In some ways, Extempo-powered characters provide even better services than people. They offer immediate, unlimited time and attention to each individual customer. They learn about their customers and remember them, improving their personalized services on every visit. And Extempo-powered characters are always friendly, cheerful, and entertaining. As a result, customers visit a site more often, stay longer, and complete more transactions. Over time, Extempo-powered characters build relationships with their customers the same way that people do, building bonds of loyalty and trust based on a shared history of service and social exchange.

About Extempo

Extempo makes smart, friendly, helpful interactive characters providing personalized customer care on the Internet. Serving B-to-C and B-to-B businesses, Extempo offers two solution packages. Web Staff(TM) Characters receive and serve customers who visit a business's Web site, kiosk, or other destination site. Interactive Messenger(TM) Characters are sent to visit and serve a business's customers through electronic links carried in e-mail or other proactive channels. For each of these solution packages, Extempo offers custom characters built to specification, a growing roster of market-targeted characters that can be customized to particular applications, and turn-key character solutions. Recently deployed custom characters include: Mr. Clean(TM) for Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG); and Virtual Jack(TM) for Petopia.com. Recently deployed customized characters include: Q Web Assistant(TM) for PeopleWeb.com. Recently deployed turn-key character solutions include: iSanta(TM) on Sega.com (NIKKEI:J.SEL), FirstRegistry.com, and JellyBelly.com; and iCupid (TM) (Naughty and Nice) on Florist.com. Extempo holds a patent on intellectual property underlying its Imp Character Technology(TM).

Visit Extempo at www.extempo.com.

Note to editors: Digital images of Mr. Clean and Virtual Jack are available for direct download from the Extempo Web site. Mr. Clean is available at http://www.extempo.com/press/mrclean2.jpg and Virtual Jack is available at http://www.extempo.com/press/jack_standing_color.gif