Ultra Hal

{{Short description|Chatbot}}

Ultra Hal is a chatbot intended to function as a virtual assistant. It was developed by Zabaware, Inc.

Ultra Hal uses a natural language interface with animated characters using speech synthesis. Users can communicate with the chatterbot via typing or via a speech recognition engine. It utilizes the WordNet lexical dictionary. Its name is an allusion to HAL 9000, the artificial intelligence from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.{{cite news |title= Editorial review of Ultra Hal Assistant|first= John L.|last= Jacobi|newspaper= PCWorld|date= June 17, 2009|url= http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,22750-order,4-c,utilities/description.html?&page=10}}

Ultra Hal won the 2007 Loebner Prize for "most human" chatterbot.{{cite news |title= Hal's odyssey|first= Jim|last= Martin|newspaper= Erie Times-News|date= November 4, 2007|url= http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/BUSINESS05/711040366/-1/BUSINESS04}}