Canadian Business has this article Domo arigato, Mr. DiCarlantonio about a company that develops virtual characters that guide people through websites. It is big in Japan.

DiCarlantonio is president and CEO of iNago Inc., a Canadian software company that operates its crucial sales and marketing division out of a cramped, cluttered office in Tokyo. Two years ago, iNago partnered with Date Kyoko’s agents, Tokyo-based Hori Productions Inc. (Horipro), the biggest talent agency in Japan. Well, Horipro is more than just Date Kyoko’s agency–it’s actually her creator. You see, she’s not real. She’s a virtual human, a computer-generated image programmed with iNago’s technology to converse with visitors to KIT’s campus-tour Web site. And apparently I’m not making enough small talk with her.

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Fortunately, DiCarlantonio, a software engineer with a degree from the University of Waterloo, spent seven years in Japan before founding iNago in 1997.

The iNAGO website says this about Ron:

Ron founded iNAGO out of a desire to make technology more interactive, friendly… ALIVE!

Returning to Toronto in 1993, Ron founded 9003 Inc., Canada, the forerunner to iNAGO and while continuing the Japanese success of AQUAZONE in North America started the primary development of digital humans, which led to the creation of NetPeople®.