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Interface in Our Ears

Vedmar, Joakim LU (2017) MAMM01 20171
Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology
Abstract
One of the current trends amongst the major software companies is Virtual Personal Assistants (VPA), such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This market is growing rapidly, and the assistants are getting smarter and becoming more capable. However, in this kind of rapid expansion it is easy to lose focus on the user, which may lead to the end user discarding the VPA as another software gimmick.

In this Master’s Thesis I focus on the interface in our ears by using various methods in interaction design and user experience in conjunction with VPAs to investigate new ways of developing the digital assistant.

One way to develop VPAs could be to introduce stacked commands so that VPAs can collect and perform several commands... (More)
One of the current trends amongst the major software companies is Virtual Personal Assistants (VPA), such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This market is growing rapidly, and the assistants are getting smarter and becoming more capable. However, in this kind of rapid expansion it is easy to lose focus on the user, which may lead to the end user discarding the VPA as another software gimmick.

In this Master’s Thesis I focus on the interface in our ears by using various methods in interaction design and user experience in conjunction with VPAs to investigate new ways of developing the digital assistant.

One way to develop VPAs could be to introduce stacked commands so that VPAs can collect and perform several commands at once, giving users more information whilst still being efficient. The feature of stacked commands is where VPAs can perform multiple actions with just one command by performing each command option one after another or by “stacking”. This feature of stack commands can give users quick status reports or seemingly perform multiple tasks simultaneously. This thesis illustrates one way to utilise the stack command in the field of home systems.

An early concept prototype was developed and tested how this feature could be displayed, giving visual and audio feedback to the user. The prototype received positive responses during the testing phase and showed that participants preferred this new kind of interaction with the VPA.

The concept of stacked commands can be extended to, but is not limited by, homes, cars and workplaces. A market driven development could further this concept to any eyes-and/or-hands-busy environment where voice activated VPAs would be deemed necessary. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Vedmar, Joakim LU
supervisor
organization
course
MAMM01 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Virtual Personal Assistant, User Centred Design
language
English
id
8928800
date added to LUP
2017-11-27 10:55:40
date last changed
2017-11-27 10:55:40
@misc{8928800,
  abstract     = {{One of the current trends amongst the major software companies is Virtual Personal Assistants (VPA), such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This market is growing rapidly, and the assistants are getting smarter and becoming more capable. However, in this kind of rapid expansion it is easy to lose focus on the user, which may lead to the end user discarding the VPA as another software gimmick. 

In this Master’s Thesis I focus on the interface in our ears by using various methods in interaction design and user experience in conjunction with VPAs to investigate new ways of developing the digital assistant.

One way to develop VPAs could be to introduce stacked commands so that VPAs can collect and perform several commands at once, giving users more information whilst still being efficient. The feature of stacked commands is where VPAs can perform multiple actions with just one command by performing each command option one after another or by “stacking”. This feature of stack commands can give users quick status reports or seemingly perform multiple tasks simultaneously. This thesis illustrates one way to utilise the stack command in the field of home systems.

An early concept prototype was developed and tested how this feature could be displayed, giving visual and audio feedback to the user. The prototype received positive responses during the testing phase and showed that participants preferred this new kind of interaction with the VPA.

The concept of stacked commands can be extended to, but is not limited by, homes, cars and workplaces. A market driven development could further this concept to any eyes-and/or-hands-busy environment where voice activated VPAs would be deemed necessary.}},
  author       = {{Vedmar, Joakim}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Interface in Our Ears}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}