Abstract
Smart speakers equipped with intelligent virtual assistants allow people to look for information, complete tasks and control other devices without using their hands and eyes, just their voice. Humans can finally use natural language utterances and be fully understood, without being forced to learn the machine language or to handle more or less complicated interaction techniques. Their potential in terms of inclusive design is therefore very high. However, it is important not to fall into the opposite problem, that is, to limit their use to the voice/auditory channel only, excluding all those who can’t or don’t want to use it. In this paper, the authors analyze the current situation, highlighting the peculiarities of these systems and the reasons why they are quickly gaining ground. Then, they focus on the potential interaction issues and on the challenges still open. After studying the main use cases relating to people with disabilities, elderly and accessibility, the authors can draw a list of suggestions addressing the inclusive design of virtual assistants and smart speakers.
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Sciarretta, E., Alimenti, L. (2021). Smart Speakers for Inclusion: How Can Intelligent Virtual Assistants Really Assist Everybody?. In: Kurosu, M. (eds) Human-Computer Interaction. Theory, Methods and Tools. HCII 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12762. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78462-1_6
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