Three new features
Audiobook platform Audible introduced three AI features meant to make listening more interactive: Character Guide, Interactive Story and Visual Explorer. The company says the features were developed closely with content creators.
Character guide and a visual layer
Character Guide shows in real time which character is speaking on the player screen in audiobooks with large casts. It also offers spoiler-free character cards that include photos and biographies of the voice actors. Visual Explorer adds a visual layer, surfacing maps of the story's setting or images tied to key events without interrupting the listening experience.
Real-time conversation with characters
The standout feature is Interactive Story. Combining generative AI, conversation design and voice production, it lets listeners talk with story characters in real time. The first experience arrives with Dracula, where users interact with Dracula's servant Renfield, who starts the conversation, gives the user a role within the story and reacts to their replies in real time. Audible stresses the experience is not left entirely to AI: creators define starting scenes, key turning points and character personalities.
Availability
Character Guide debuted in Bram Stoker's Dracula, released October 1, and also appears in the Audible Original version of 1984; it will be added to Exoplanet, due November 5. A second Interactive Story experience will also arrive November 5 in the Exoplanet world. One of Visual Explorer's first uses will be The Cultural Tutor's Grand Tour: The Story of Europe in Six Cities. All three features are in limited beta in the US and UK and will expand based on feedback.
