Exploring The Potentials of Voice-Based Conversational Agents for The Elderly: Beyond a Pragmatic Perspective

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HilalŞahin_MasterThesis_2023.pdf

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2023-1-27

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Şahin, Hilal

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Speech, the fundamental basis of human communication, is now enabling interaction between humans and machines. Correspondingly, the acceptance of Voice-based Conversational Agents (VCAs) by different age groups is remarkably rising. The aging population and events like COVID-19 have led to increased attention on elderly users in academic research, which focuses mostly on their declining mental and physical abilities. The aim of this thesis is to examine the impact of values, hedonic aspects, and routines of the elderly people on their perceptions of VCAs. To go beyond a problem-driven approach and examine the possibilities of VCAs for elderly users, this thesis is composed of a systematic literature review and an empirical study. The systematic literature review was conducted through 6 databases to find the hedonic aspects in the interaction between elderly and VCAs in the available literature. The empirical study used semi-structured interviews with 13 participants (9 elderly and 4 caregivers) to focus on the daily life experiences and routines of the elderly and to identify areas that could provide positive user experiences and values. The data was analyzed using the main components of Self-Determination Theory. The relationship between VCA features and hedonic aspects was scrutinized to find potential areas for meaningful interactions between the elderly and VCAs. The main outcome of this thesis is that design decisions regarding VCAs should empower the elderly by protecting the areas where they feel autonomous and competent, while at the same time increasing their relatedness.

Subject Keywords

Elderly, Voice-based Conversational Agents, Meaningful Interaction, User Experience

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/102094

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats

H. Şahin, “Exploring The Potentials of Voice-Based Conversational Agents for The Elderly: Beyond a Pragmatic Perspective,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2023.