<s>
The	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
(	O
Verbal-Robot	O
)	O
was	O
a	O
popular	O
chatterbot	B-Protocol
program	O
and	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
software	O
development	O
kit	O
(	O
SDK	O
)	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
the	O
web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
Mauldin	O
,	O
Founder	O
of	O
Lycos	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
developed	O
a	O
prototype	O
Chatterbot	B-Protocol
,	O
Julia	O
,	O
which	O
competed	O
in	O
the	O
internationally	O
known	O
Turing	O
test	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
coveted	O
Loebner	O
Prize	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
release	O
was	O
well	O
received	O
,	O
and	O
finally	O
,	O
after	O
several	O
versions	O
,	O
the	O
production	O
release	O
(	O
deemed	O
version	O
3	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
Verbally	O
Enhanced	O
Software	O
Robot	O
—	O
or	O
,	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
was	O
deployed	O
in	O
the	O
Fall	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
grandfather	O
of	O
all	O
Verbots	B-Protocol
is	O
Rog-O-Matic	B-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
although	O
it	O
could	O
not	O
talk	O
,	O
could	O
and	O
did	O
explore	O
a	O
virtual	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
close	O
cousin	O
of	O
Julia	O
is	O
Lycos	B-Application
,	O
a	O
robot	O
that	O
explores	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
and	O
answers	O
questions	O
about	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sylvie	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
with	O
a	O
face	O
and	O
a	O
voice	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fascinated	O
by	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
ELIZA	B-Application
,	O
he	O
proceeded	O
to	O
write	O
a	O
program	O
called	O
"	O
PET	O
"	O
for	O
his	O
8	O
kilobyte	O
Commodore	O
PET	O
Computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
seventies	O
and	O
early	O
eighties	O
,	O
a	O
popular	O
computer	O
game	O
at	O
universities	O
was	O
Rogue	B-Application
,	O
an	O
implementation	O
of	O
Dungeons	O
and	O
Dragons	O
where	O
the	O
player	O
would	O
descend	O
26	O
levels	O
in	O
a	O
randomly	O
created	O
dungeon	O
,	O
fighting	O
monsters	O
,	O
gathering	O
treasure	O
,	O
and	O
searching	O
for	O
the	O
elusive	O
"	O
Amulet	B-Application
of	I-Application
Yendor	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mauldin	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
four	O
grad	O
students	O
who	O
devoted	O
a	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
to	O
building	O
a	O
program	O
called	O
"	O
Rog-O-Matic	B-General_Concept
"	O
that	O
could	O
and	O
on	O
several	O
occasions	O
did	O
manage	O
to	O
retrieve	O
the	O
amulet	O
and	O
emerge	O
victorious	O
from	O
the	O
dungeon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Julia	O
slowly	O
developed	O
into	O
a	O
more	O
and	O
more	O
capable	O
conversational	B-General_Concept
agent	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
assumed	O
useful	O
duties	O
in	O
the	O
TinyMUD	O
world	O
,	O
including	O
tour	O
guide	O
,	O
information	O
assistant	O
,	O
note-taker	O
,	O
message-relayer	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
could	O
play	O
the	O
card	O
game	O
hearts	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
other	O
human	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
therefore	O
only	O
a	O
very	O
short	O
cognitive	O
leap	O
from	O
Julia	O
to	O
Lycos	B-Application
,	O
another	O
robotic	O
agent	O
that	O
explores	O
a	O
virtual	O
world	O
made	O
of	O
hyperlinked	O
pages	O
of	O
text	O
,	O
and	O
which	O
answers	O
questions	O
about	O
those	O
pages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
2012	O
Avaya	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
acquired	O
Conversive	O
's	O
assets	O
including	O
Verbots	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
4	O
version	O
was	O
created	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2005	O
Version	O
4.1	O
of	O
the	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
Software	O
was	O
released	O
with	O
many	O
feature	O
enhancements	O
and	O
bug	O
fixes	O
,	O
including	O
built-in	O
support	O
for	O
embedding	O
C#	O
code	O
in	O
outputs	O
and	O
conditionals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
2006	O
Conversive	O
launched	O
Verbots	B-Protocol
Online	O
allowing	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
4	O
users	O
to	O
upload	O
their	O
knowledge	O
and	O
show	O
off	O
their	O
bots	B-Protocol
to	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
2012	O
the	O
last	O
version	O
of	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
,	O
5.0.1.2	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
general	O
public	O
with	O
support	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
7	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
in	O
2012	O
Verbots	B-Protocol
Online	O
completely	O
shutdown	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Verbots.com,	O
its	O
community	O
of	O
users	O
and	O
its	O
forums	O
no	O
longer	O
exist	O
but	O
the	O
software	O
and	O
users	O
can	O
still	O
be	O
found	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
has	O
been	O
no	O
active	O
development	O
since	O
the	O
early	O
2012	O
release	O
of	O
Verbot	B-Protocol
5.0.1.2	O
.	O
</s>
