Bringing history into the present

Microsoft chose LemonSlice to power an AI Teddy Roosevelt avatar that talks, listens, and reacts to museum visitors in real-time.

Customer story

00:00|01:16

The Problem

Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair of Microsoft, sat down with Doug Burgum, currently US Secretary of the Interior, a couple of years ago and brainstormed potential exhibits for the upcoming Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (TRPL). They wanted the library to be an active experience for visitors, not just a passive one.

One of the exhibit ideas was bringing a digital version of Theodore Roosevelt (TR) to life through an AI avatar that could talk, listen, and react in real-time. This was 2019 and not possible with the technology of the time. Fast forward a few years, however, Microsoft had developed the AI reasoning and voice expertise to make it possible.

The missing piece was the real-time avatar layer. That's where LemonSlice came in.

The LemonSlice – Microsoft collaboration

“Talk with TR” initially used a different avatar provider but the teams did not like how it looked or felt. “It looked like a videogame,” said Matt Briney, Chief Communications Officer of the TRPL. “It didn't feel like you were talking to Theodore Roosevelt.” Ultimately, Microsoft evaluated LemonSlice and thought, “Well that's really promising. It looks like you're actually talking to a human being” continued Matt. Plus, the avatar could be powered off a real historical photograph of Roosevelt.

The Microsoft team liked how realistic and dynamic the LemonSlice avatar was. The natural hand gestures and whole body motions were unique to LemonSlice's offering and important for making AI TR feel alive.

Brad Smith at Microsoft reflected, “We at Microsoft were so pleased and so impressed not just by what you created [...] but how easy it was for all of us to work together.”

“[The avatar] is so lifelike. It is state of the art. It has been such a pleasure for us at Microsoft to work with LemonSlice.”

Brad Smith · President and Vice Chair, Microsoft

Susan Sarna
Curator, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Matt Briney
Chief Communications Officer, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

The Final Result

“Talk with TR” was said to “steal the show” by the NYTimes. The unique thing about the exhibit is that no two visitors have the same conversation. The avatar can have a deep conversation with world-renowned historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and then talk to a 7-year old boy about his favorite foods. Visitors have had conversations with TR about life advice, thoughts on death, war, and even recommended pocket watches.

“The A.I. hologram of Roosevelt… steals the show.”

- The New York Times

Overwhelming

“It was overwhelming. I don’t have words for it yet. You really feel like you’re talking to your great-great-grandfather.”

Ted Roosevelt V

Great-great-grandson of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt

Seemed Magical

“I couldn’t have imagined that it was as alive as this is. It seemed magical. [The avatar] showed absolute emotion and fire. I felt like I really was talking to my boyfriend.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian

Seamless Immersion

“It was beyond impressive. With 3D glasses or VR, there’s always a sense of a technology curtain present. But there’s no sense of curtain here. That’s what’s really powerful”

Richard Goodwin

Son of Doris Kearns Goodwin

So Lifelike

“It’s amazing. First of all, he’s so lifelike so you feel like you’re actually talking to Teddy Roosevelt. And, his advice is remarkable.”

Charity Wallace

Founder & President, Wallace Global Impact

Watch the avatar in action. Here is a video of the final “Talk with TR” exhibit answering a range of questions.

00:00|03:36

President Trump visited the TRPL. He was supposed to have a short 1-minute interaction with the TR avatar and ended up talking to it for nearly 15 minutes! He even talked about the experience in his public speech afterwards.

3.1Mviews

Margo Martin

@MargoMartin47 · The White House

.@POTUS interacts with AI President Theodore Roosevelt at the Theodore Roosevelt Library in North Dakota 🇺🇸

Watch on X →

4.7Mviews

Margo Martin

@MargoMartin47 · The White House

President Trump asks AI President Roosevelt… “Do you consider the Panama Canal your greatest achievement?”

Watch on X →

180Kviews

Eric Trump

@EricTrump

Trump meets Roosevelt

Watch on X →

“[AI Roosevelt] does exactly what you want history to do: to make young people feel like it's part of their world.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin · Pulitzer Prize-winning historian

Team

Microsoft: Laura Hoffman, Pengce Wang, Michaell Bakalars, Shawn Wright, Ursula Hardy, David Wolf, Dan Rutkowski
TRPL: Matt Briney, Susan Sarna, Ed O'Keefe
LemonSlice: Andrew Weitz, Bryce Li, Sidney Primas, Josh Primas, Korneel van den Berghe, Richa Mishra, Santiago Benoit, Lina Colucci
Other partners: Dixon State University, Future of Storytelling (FoST), GMR