Forskning och utveckling har hittills mestadels fokuserats på den rent tekniska utvecklingen av ’speech recognition’ för användningen av produkter med ’Voice user interface’ (VUI). Men det krävs mer för att skapa en bra upplevelse och frekvent användande av VUI. Detta examensarbete undersöker hur upplevelsen och värdet av VUI kan förbättrats för användaren.Genom intervjuer, observationer och frågeformulär riktade mot användare av VUI-produkter innehållande Google Assistant, Alexa eller Siri, identifierades de två största problemområdena – att VUI inte anpassar volymen på sina svar efter omgivningens ljudnivå, samt bristen på kunskap om vad VUI kan användas till i de olika produkterna.Resultatet från användartester av prototyperna visar att en nuvarande teknisk begränsning som volymanpassning kan genom vidareutveckling av tekniken öka användarvänligheten avsevärt. Testerna visar även att användarupplevelsen ökar om användaren blir medveten om vad som faktiskt kan göras med VUI, vilket leder till ytterligare förenklingar i vardagen.

Este trabalho relaciona elementos das áreas de Computação e Saúde para comporem a elaboração de uma metodologia para avaliação de usabilidade de sistemas de transcrição automática de laudos na área de Radiologia. Inicialmente, é apresentado um estudo realizado sobre a área de Interface do Usuário Baseada em Voz que identifica requisitos para os sistemas que trabalham com comunicação mediada por voz assim como as iniciativas no sentido de se criar uma metodologia para sua avaliação. Em seguida é realizado um estudo dos sistemas de transcrição automática de laudos, no qual os principais requisitos são caracterizados e classificados. Os dois estudos acima citados foram integrados para a elaboração de uma metodologia para a avaliação de Sistemas de Transcrição Automática de Laudos em Radiologia. A metodologia foi, então, validada previamente através de inspeções e testes de usabilidade realizados fora do ambiente hospitalar, através do uso de um sistema de transcrição automática de laudos em Radiologia. Posteriormente, a metodologia foi também aplicada a um hospital da cidade de São Paulo. Como resultado principal foi proposto um guia bastante detalhado para se avaliar os Sistemas de Transcrição Automática de Laudos em Radiologia, cada vez mais presentes em hospitais e clínicas no país, além dos relatos das experiências obtidas com a aplicação desta metodologia em um caso real. / This work combines knowledge from Computer Science and Health Science in order to propose an evaluation methodology for Automatic Transcription System of Radiology Reports. At first a study regarding a Voice User Interface is presented, this interface identifies the requirements for Spoken Language Dialogue Systems and it can also be used as a tool for an evaluation methodology. Following, a study of automatic transcription systems is presented; in this study the main requirements are listed and classified. Both studies were integrated to allow a new methodology to evaluate an Automatic Transcription System in Radiology. This methodology was previously validated through some inspections and usability tests outside the hospital environment and afterword the methodology was used in a hospital in São Paulo city. As a main result it was proposed a very detailed guide for evaluating the Automatic Transcription Systems Reports in Radiology, increasingly found in hospitals and clinics in this country, apart from reports on experiences gained in applying this methodology in a real case.

Este trabalho relaciona elementos das áreas de Computação e Saúde para comporem a elaboração de uma metodologia para avaliação de usabilidade de sistemas de transcrição automática de laudos na área de Radiologia. Inicialmente, é apresentado um estudo realizado sobre a área de Interface do Usuário Baseada em Voz que identifica requisitos para os sistemas que trabalham com comunicação mediada por voz assim como as iniciativas no sentido de se criar uma metodologia para sua avaliação. Em seguida é realizado um estudo dos sistemas de transcrição automática de laudos, no qual os principais requisitos são caracterizados e classificados. Os dois estudos acima citados foram integrados para a elaboração de uma metodologia para a avaliação de Sistemas de Transcrição Automática de Laudos em Radiologia. A metodologia foi, então, validada previamente através de inspeções e testes de usabilidade realizados fora do ambiente hospitalar, através do uso de um sistema de transcrição automática de laudos em Radiologia. Posteriormente, a metodologia foi também aplicada a um hospital da cidade de São Paulo. Como resultado principal foi proposto um guia bastante detalhado para se avaliar os Sistemas de Transcrição Automática de Laudos em Radiologia, cada vez mais presentes em hospitais e clínicas no país, além dos relatos das experiências obtidas com a aplicação desta metodologia em um caso real. / This work combines knowledge from Computer Science and Health Science in order to propose an evaluation methodology for Automatic Transcription System of Radiology Reports. At first a study regarding a Voice User Interface is presented, this interface identifies the requirements for Spoken Language Dialogue Systems and it can also be used as a tool for an evaluation methodology. Following, a study of automatic transcription systems is presented; in this study the main requirements are listed and classified. Both studies were integrated to allow a new methodology to evaluate an Automatic Transcription System in Radiology. This methodology was previously validated through some inspections and usability tests outside the hospital environment and afterword the methodology was used in a hospital in São Paulo city. As a main result it was proposed a very detailed guide for evaluating the Automatic Transcription Systems Reports in Radiology, increasingly found in hospitals and clinics in this country, apart from reports on experiences gained in applying this methodology in a real case.

The elderly experience their health getting significantly deteriorated as they age. They suffer not only from chronic diseases but from various geriatric diseases such as high blood pressure, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Their mental health also retreats creating challenges for the elderly from the loss of short term memory to dementia. Furthermore, after they retire, the elderly’s social network decreases as their social activities are inevitably limited to a small group of people like families and friends. With the face of such impairments in their physical, mental and social health, many elderly cannot help but are being institutionalized or sent to specialized places like nursing homes, which provide them professional care. However, a study indicates that most Americans prefer to stay in their homes as they get older since they can maintain their social connections to neighbors and friends, be close to their medical caregivers in town as well as attain emotional comfort and security with familiar surrounding and environments. On top of that, Americans of all ages value on keeping their ability of independence and autonomy by controlling their lives in general. Various health care-aid devices and services appear to offer specific support to health care activities for the elderly in their homes. However, such aids have more focused only on when the elderly’s health is degraded or on very specific areas such as tracking health data like blood pressure, blood sugar and calorie intakes. The elderly need comprehensive understanding about their health problems, healthy daily habits and timely interactions with their families and caregivers, in order to keep independent living safely in their places. Smart Home technology has much potential to support the elderly’s independent living as well as interactions with others. To better understand this, we conducted a user-centered design project which looks at the management of the elderly’s health enabled by Smart Home technology.

The original VTQuest web-based software system requires users to interact using a mouse or a keyboard, forcing the users' hands and eyes to be constantly in use while communicating with the system. This prevents the user from being able to perform other tasks which require the user's hands or eyes at the same time. This restriction on the user's ability to multitask while using VTQuest is unnecessary and has been eliminated with the creation of the VTQuest Voice web-based software system. VTQuest Voice extends the original VTQuest functionality by providing the user with a voice interface to interact with the system using the Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) technology. The voice interface provides the user with the ability to navigate through the site, submit queries, browse query results, and receive helpful hints to better utilize the voice system. Individuals with a handicap that prevents them from using their arms or hands, users who are not familiar with the mouse and keyboard style of communication, and those who have their hands preoccupied need alternative communication interfaces which do not require the use of their hands. All of these users require and benefit from a voice interface being added onto VTQuest. Through the use of the voice interface, all of the system's features can be accessed exclusively with voice and without the use of a user's hands. Using a voice interface also frees the user's eyes from being used during the process of selecting an option or link on a page, which allows the user to look at the system less frequently. VTQuest Voice is implemented and tested for operation on computers running Microsoft Windows using Microsoft Internet Explorer with the correct SALT and Adobe Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Viewer plug-ins installed. VTQuest Voice offers a variety of features including an extensive grammar and out-of-turn interaction, which are flexible for future growth. The grammar offers ways in which users may begin or end a query to better accommodate the variety of ways users may phrase their queries. To accommodate for abbreviations of building names and alternate pronunciations of building names, the grammar also includes nicknames for the buildings. The out-of-turn interaction combines multiple steps into one spoken sentence thereby shortening the interaction and also making the process more natural for the user. The addition of a voice interface is recommended for web applications which a user may need to use his or her eyes and hands to multitask. Additional functionality which can be added later to VTQuest Voice is touch screen support and accessibility from cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and other mobile devices. / Master of Science

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Today voice recognition is becoming mainstream and nowadays it is also possible to include in individual smartphone apps. However, it has not previously been investigated for which tasks it is preferable from a usability perspective to use voice recognition rather than touch. In order to investigate this, a voice user interface was created for a smartphone radio application, which already had a touch interface. The voice user interface was also tested with users in order to improve its usability. After that, a test was conducted where the participants were asked to perform the same tasks using both the touch and voice interface. The time they took to complete the tasks was measured and the participants rated the experience of completing the task on a scale. Finally, they were asked which interaction method they preferred. For most of the tasks tested, the voice interaction was both faster and got a higher rating. However, it should be noted that in a case where users don’t have specific tasks to perform it might be harder for them to know what a voice controlled app can and cannot do than when they are using touch. Many users also expressed that they were reluctant to use voice commands in public spaces out of fear of appearing strange. These results can be applied to other radio/podcast apps and, to a lesser extent, app for watching TV series and playing music. / Röststyrningen blir vanligare och numera är den också möjligt att använda i individuella appar för smartphones. Det har dock inte tidigare undersökts för vilka uppgifter det ur ett användbarhetsperspektiv är att föredra framför pekskärmsinteraktion. För att undersöka det skapades ett röstinterface för en radiooch podcast applikation som redan hade ett pekskärmsinterface. Röstinterfacet testades också med användare för att förbättra dess användbarhet. Efter det gjordes ett test där deltagarna blev ombedda att utföra samma uppgift med både pekskärm- och röstinterface. Den tid de tog på sig uppmättes och deltagarna betygsatte upplevelsen av att utföra uppgiften på en skala. Slutligen blev de tillfrågade omvilken interaktionsmetod de föredrog. För de flesta av de testade uppgifterna var röstinteraktion snabbare och fick högre betyg. Det ska dock noteras att i fall då användaren inte har specifika uppgifter att utföra kan det vara svårare för dem att veta vad en röststyrd app kan och inte kan göra än när de använder pekskärm. Många användare uttryckte också att de var motvilliga till att använda röstkommandon i allmänna utrymmen av rädsla föratt verka underliga. Dessa resultat kan tillämpas på radio/podcast appar och, i mindre utsträckning, appar för att titta på TV-serier och spela musik.

This paper investigates the conversational capabilities of voice-controlled virtual assistants with respect to biased questions and answers. Three commercial virtual assistants (Google Assistant, Alexa and Siri) are tested for the presence of three cognitive biases (wording, framing and confirmation) in the answers given. The results show that all assistants are susceptible to wording and framing biases to varying degrees, and have limited ability to recognise questions designed to induce cognitive biases. The paper describes the different response strategies available to voice user interfaces, the differences between them, and discusses the role of strategy in relation to biased content.

Screen readers for visually impaired users are poorly optimized for e-commerce websites hence the exclusion of the content. It creates a societal need for accessibility of the content in e-commerce websites for the visually impaired users. This study explores how six blindfolded participants could co-design a Voice User Interface (VUI) in an e-commerce website to convey its information that creates a good user experience for visually impaired. The result of a co-design workshop with interaction design practices showed that a VUI should be humanlike and convey relevant information. Failed speech recognition and overwhelming information had a negative impact on the user experience. To cope with the problems, the VUI should provide more control to the users by conveying explicit confirmations and retrospective information from past shopping trips. Due to the difficulties in finding visually impaired participants, the design process was not completed hence the ideation needs an additional design process.

In this thesis I address the topic of a non-visual approach for interaction on mobile,as an alternative to their existing visual displays in situations where hands free usageof the device is preferred. The current technology will be examined through existingwork with special attention to its limitations, which user groups are currently using anysort of speech recognition or voice command functions and look at in which scenariosare these the most used and most desired. Then I will examine through interviews whypeople trust or distrust voice interactions and how they feel about the possibilities andlimitations of the technology at hand, how individual users use this currently and wheredo they see the technology in the future. After this I will develop an alternative voiceinteraction concept, and validate it through a set of workshops.