ARDena – Next-Generation Humanoid Behavioral Virtual Assistant

Meet Intelligent Innovations Ltd., a spin-off company of the School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics in Osijek, is currently developing ARDena – an innovative digital human powered by advanced technologies in computer vision, natural language processing, and augmented reality.

The project is supported by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO), with the goal of developing a pre-commercial technology that enables people to communicate with machines as naturally as with other human beings.

Key Technological Features of ARDena:

• Visual perception through an integrated camera that tracks gaze and recognizes emotions
• Natural speech communication enabled by advanced NLP models
• Behavioral interactivity – adaptive responses tailored to the conversation partner
• Modular AI architecture for scalable deployment in various environments
• Integration with augmented reality (AR) for immersive use-case scenarios

ARDena aims to be more than just a virtual assistant – she is a technological bridge between humans and machines.

Assistive Technology that Supports People in Need.

ARDena is already showing great potential in the field of special education and assistive support. As part of the first field trials, we organized a visit with representatives of the Osijek Autism Center – the head Vladimir Bjelobrk, special education teachers Marija Komjetan and Karolina Burek Bilokapić, and their pupil Emanuel. 

ARDena, presented as a digital interactive display, demonstrated her ability to facilitate communication and build trust with children with developmental difficulties through speech and emotionally sensitive interaction.

See highlights from the visit in the photo gallery below.

What’s Next?

We are proud to announce that starting in autumn 2025, ARDena will begin real-world testing at the Autism Center in Osijek, where we will monitor her effectiveness and potential for application in educational and therapeutic work.