Case study
NRF Transforms the Conference Experience with 10 Virtual AI Guides at Retail's Big Show
At NRF: Retail's Big Show, bitHuman deployed 10 AI-powered virtual conference guides throughout the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Each avatar rendered on its kiosk, helping thousands of attendees navigate the event, find exhibitor booths, and get answers about sessions, speakers, and networking opportunities.
“The virtual AI guides transformed how attendees navigated Retail's Big Show. They provided instant, accurate information about booth locations, session schedules, and event details—creating a seamless experience that enhanced engagement and reduced confusion in our massive convention center.”
Information Kiosk
Late-Night Interview Host
Roommate Communication Coach
Background
NRF: Retail's Big Show is the world's largest retail event, bringing together over 40,000 retail professionals, solution providers, and industry leaders at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The event features hundreds of exhibitors, dozens of educational sessions, and countless networking opportunities across multiple floors and halls.
With such a massive scale, attendees often struggle to navigate the convention center, locate specific exhibitor booths, find session rooms, and get timely information about schedule changes or event updates. NRF needed an innovative solution to enhance the attendee experience and provide accurate guidance throughout the event.
Challenge
Navigating a Massive Convention Center
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center spans multiple floors and halls, making it challenging for attendees to find specific exhibitor booths, session rooms, and networking events.
Live Information Needs
Attendees need access to up-to-date information about session schedules, speaker changes, booth locations, and event updates.
Solution
NRF partnered with bitHuman to deploy 10 AI-powered virtual conference guides, strategically positioned throughout the Javits Convention Center. Each guide ran on-device—processing every attendee interaction locally—and served as an interactive information kiosk, helping attendees navigate the event and discover exhibitors, sessions, and networking opportunities.
Booth Location Guidance
Virtual guides provide accurate directions to any exhibitor booth, helping attendees navigate the massive convention center efficiently.
Event Information
Guides answer questions about session schedules, speaker information, networking events, and live updates.
Ten Guides Across the Show Floor
Deployed throughout the Javits Convention Center, these virtual guides serve as greeters and information hubs, drawing visitors in with engaging personalities while delivering accurate, helpful answers.
Impact
The deployment of 10 virtual AI guides at NRF: Retail's Big Show delivered significant improvements in attendee navigation, engagement, and overall event experience.
Enhanced Navigation
Virtual guides provide accurate directions to exhibitor booths and session rooms.
Increased Visitor Engagement
The engaging personalities of the virtual guides attract visitors to information kiosks.
Live Information Access
Attendees receive up-to-date information about session schedules and event updates.
Private by Design
Every one of the 10 kiosks rendered bitHuman's live avatars on the device, so each avatar's audio and video stayed on the hardware in the hall.
On-Device Processing
Each avatar renders live directly on the kiosk, so its audio and video stay on local hardware.
Data Stays in Your Control
When the avatar renders on your hardware and you use your own voice and language services, bitHuman receives usage metering only—never audio, video or conversation text.
Deploy Anywhere
The same avatars run on-device, on-premise, or in a private cloud—so your security and compliance teams decide exactly where data lives.
Enterprise Events, Enterprise Privacy
Private by design means engagement at scale without the exposure. Ten kiosks served thousands of attendees, each avatar rendered on the kiosk itself.
Ready to Transform Your Event Experience?
Discover how bitHuman's virtual AI guides can help your organization create engaging, informative experiences at conferences, tradeshows, and events of any scale—private by design, processed on your own hardware.
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