Rock Group Adopts GooglyMinotaur To Converse With FansRock Group Adopts GooglyMinotaur To Converse With Fans

Forget the yellow, running man that has forever represented chat-style online communications. Instant messaging has a new face, and rock group Radiohead is hoping that face will become best friends with its fans.

Radiohead, through an agreement between Capital Records and ActiveBuddy, which makes interactive agents for instant messaging, has adopted GooglyMinotaur, an automated "buddy" that uses natural language technology to answer questions and have instant-messaging conversations with fans about music. Ultimately, Capital hopes GooglyMinotaur will become such good friends with Radiohead fans that they buy more CDs.

GooglyMinotaur is one of many smart applications called interactive agents designated to deliver custom information. ActiveBuddy is already connected with the exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq to deliver stock quotes via instant messaging with a 15-minute delay.