The official Santa Tracker from American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been refreshed for 2024. The tracker has existed for over two decades and has received several contributions from Microsoft.
Microsoft has added a new AI-powered chatbot called "Radar The Elf" this year, which takes questions and answers to enhance your Santa tracking experience. Christmas elves are often depicted as diminutive creatures with pointed ears and colorful attire. They live with Santa at the North Pole and act as his helpers.
To start using the chatbot, click on the radar button at the bottom left corner of the tracker webpage. A chatbox will appear where you can ask questions in natural language, and the chatbot will respond accordingly. For instance, you can ask questions like "Where is Santa now?" or "Does Santa get cold?" or "Do reindeer eat cookies?"
Microsoft"s Radar the Elf can answer questions about Santa and NORAD in 133 languages. It also supports real-time language translation, allowing you to have multilingual interactions. The chatbot will adjust automatically if you ask the same question in multiple languages.
You can set your preferred language and allow cookies on the website; Radar will remember the language preferences for future interactions. "Even without cookies, Radar will use the first language chosen as the preferred language with each new session," Microsoft said in a blog post.
You can also click on any of the houses on the tracker webpage to access the library, play games, find Santa music, watch videos about Santa, and more. NORAD Santa Tracker will go live in about three and a half days when Santa will start his journey from the North Pole to travel around the world and deliver presents to children along the way.
If you"re wondering how Santa will pull off the feat in a single night, "NORAD intelligence reports indicate that Santa does not experience time the way we do. It seems that Santa has this way of transcending time. We’ve estimated that he travels at the speed of starlight!" the chatbot responded.
The Santa Tracker is also available as an app for Android and iOS.