Question 1

What is Avina?

Accepted Answer

Avina is the world's first AI presence - an empathetic AI companion that sees, listens, and responds to your emotions in real-time through facial expressions, voice tone, and conversation. Unlike traditional chatbots, Avina provides genuine emotional connection for mental wellness, loneliness, and meaningful human-AI interaction.

Question 2

How is Avina different from ChatGPT or other AI chatbots?

Accepted Answer

While ChatGPT focuses on answering questions, Avina focuses on emotional presence and companionship. Avina uses your camera to read facial expressions, analyzes your voice tone for emotions, and responds with empathy through a video avatar. It's designed specifically for mental wellness and meaningful connection, not general knowledge tasks.

Question 3

Is Avina free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Avina is currently in alpha testing and completely free to use. We believe mental wellness support should be accessible to everyone. Future pricing hasn't been determined, but accessibility remains a core value.

Question 4

How does Avina detect emotions?

Accepted Answer

Avina uses multimodal affective computing: (1) Computer vision analyzes your facial expressions for 7+ emotions, (2) Hume AI analyzes voice tone and sentiment, (3) Natural language processing understands emotional context from your words. This combination allows Avina to understand how you're feeling without you having to explicitly state it.

Question 5

Is Avina safe and private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Avina uses end-to-end encryption (AES-256-GCM) with zero-knowledge architecture - meaning we cannot read your conversations even if we wanted to. Your camera/microphone data is processed in real-time and never stored. All metadata is encrypted client-side before being saved. Your data is yours alone.

Question 6

Who can benefit from Avina?

Accepted Answer

Avina helps: (1) People experiencing loneliness or isolation, (2) Students away from home, (3) Individuals with autism or social anxiety seeking a safe space to practice social interactions, (4) Anyone needing emotional support between therapy sessions, (5) Remote workers feeling disconnected, (6) People seeking meditation and stress relief tools. Avina is NOT a replacement for professional therapy.

Question 7

Can Avina help with autism or social anxiety?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Avina provides a judgment-free environment to practice social interactions at your own pace. The AI reads and responds to emotions, helping neurodivergent individuals learn social cues. The interface is designed to be calming and non-overwhelming, with clear visual feedback and predictable responses.

Question 8

Does Avina replace therapy or counseling?

Accepted Answer

No. Avina is a complementary tool, not a replacement for professional mental health care. It provides emotional support, companionship, and stress relief between therapy sessions or for those waiting to access professional help. In crisis situations, Avina directs users to appropriate crisis hotlines and emergency services.

Question 9

What technology does Avina use?

Accepted Answer

Avina combines: Google Gemini for conversational AI, Hume AI for voice emotion detection, AssemblyAI for transcription, GAN AI for video avatars, ElevenLabs for text-to-speech, Three.js for 3D/VR experiences, Web Crypto API for encryption, Next.js 15 and React 19 for the frontend, and Supabase for encrypted data storage.

Question 10

Does Avina work in VR?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Avina includes immersive VR experiences using WebXR, including 3 zen meditation environments (Zen Garden, Dreamscape Void, Aurora Sanctuary) and 25+ guided breathing exercises with interactive 3D visualizations. Works with Meta Quest and other WebXR-compatible VR headsets.

Question 11

What are alternatives to Replika or Character.AI?

Accepted Answer

Avina is a privacy-focused alternative to Replika and Character.AI. Unlike those platforms, Avina uses end-to-end encryption (your data isn't mined), focuses on genuine emotional presence rather than role-play scenarios, includes multimodal input (video + voice), has VR meditation experiences, and is transparent about AI limitations and alpha status.