Related papers: Towards Usable Parental Control for Voice Assistan…
Older adults are using voice-based technologies in a variety of different contexts and are uniquely positioned to benefit from smart speakers' handsfree, voice-based interface. In order to better understand the ways in which older adults…
In recent years, much focus has been put on employing technology to make novel behavioural aids for those with autism. Most of these are digital adaptations of tools used in standard behavioural therapy to enforce normative skills. These…
Children in a large number of international and cross-cultural families in and outside of the US learn and speak more than one language. However, parents often struggle to acquaint their young children with their local language if the child…
When living apart, grandparents and grandchildren often use audio-visual communication approaches to stay connected. However, these approaches seldom provide sufficient companionship and intimacy due to a lack of co-presence and spatial…
Conversational systems use spoken language to interact with their users. Although conversational systems, such as Amazon Alexa, are becoming common and afford interesting functionalities, there is little known about the issues users of…
Robotic assistants reduce the manual efforts being put in by humans in their day-to-day tasks. In this paper, we develop a voice-controlled personal assistant robot. The robot takes the human voice commands by its own built-in microphone.…
Speech is a fundamental aspect of human life, crucial not only for communication but also for cognitive, social, and academic development. Children with speech disorders (SD) face significant challenges that, if unaddressed, can result in…
This paper studies how parents want to moderate children's interactions with Generative AI chatbots, with the goal of informing the design of future GenAI parental control tools. We first used an LLM to generate synthetic child-GenAI…
We investigate intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) accessibility for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people who can use their voice in everyday communication. The inability of IPAs to understand diverse accents including deaf speech…
Research has shown that trust is an essential aspect of human-computer interaction directly determining the degree to which the person is willing to use the system. An automatic prediction of the level of trust that a user has on a certain…
Limited linguistic coverage for Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) means that many interact in a non-native language. Yet we know little about how IPAs currently support or hinder these users. Through native (L1) and non-native (L2)…
The mammoth growth in the information technology sector in terms of both quantity and pervasiveness has opened up a Pandora's Box of issues which are relevant in technical and social aspects. This paper attempts to address one of the…
Mental health resources available via websites and mobile apps provide support such as advice, journaling, and elements from cognitive behavioral therapy. The proliferation of spoken conversational agents, such as Alexa, Siri, and Google…
Voice based Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) promise to improve healthcare management and Quality of Life (QOL) by introducing the paradigm of hands free and eye free interactions. However, there has been little understanding regarding…
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder find robots easier to communicate with than humans. Thus, robots have been introduced in autism therapies. However, due to the environmental complexity, the used robots often have to be controlled…
Using social robots and virtual agents (VAs) as interfaces for health monitoring systems for older adults offers the possibility of more engaging interactions that can support long-term health and well-being. While robots are characterized…
Autonomous agents trained via reinforcement learning present numerous safety concerns: reward hacking, negative side effects, and unsafe exploration, among others. In the context of near-future autonomous agents, operating in environments…
In this paper, we identify challenges in children's current information retrieval process, and propose conversational robots as an opportunity to ease this process in a responsible way. Tools children currently use in this process, such as…
Smart Voice Assistants (SVAs) are deeply embedded in the lives of youth, yet the mechanisms driving the privacy-protective behaviors among young users remain poorly understood. This study investigates how Canadian youth (aged 16-24)…
With the recent advance in speech technology, smart voice assistants have been improved and are now used by many people. But often these assistants are running online as a cloud service and are not always known for a good protection of…