Future Home Virtual Assistants

We work in prospecting the use of virtual assistants to support the active and independent life of vulnerable people

 

 

WHAT IS THE OBJETIVE?

Explore the possibilities of the application of virtual assistants in the promotion of personal autonomy, entertainment and the prevention of loneliness in elderly, dependent or disabled people.

WHAT DOES IT CONSIST OF?

Virtual assistants have advanced exponentially in recent years, both in terms of improving their capabilities and functionalities and in terms of their penetration into society in different ways, especially in the home environment.

2019

At the end of 2019, we began to explore the possibilities of applying virtual assistants to promote personal autonomy for elderly, dependent or disabled people. A breakfast with experts in artificial intelligence and a demonstration of voice assistants was held, and the first tests of the Google Assistant and Alexa assistants were carried out.

During this period, engineering interns from the Polytechnic University of Madrid joined the TECSOS team with the aim of researching the potential of using voice assistants.

A series of infographics were also published to explain in a simple way the use of these new functionalities developed for Alexa, as well as all those voice assistant commands that may be of greatest interest during this period.

 

 

2020

It was in March 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, that, in collaboration with the Red Cross, we accelerated our efforts to find potential use cases that could solve some needs and offer another channel to provide verified, quality and accessible information to as many people as possible.

The Red Cross, in collaboration with Accenture, Amazon and the TECSOS Foundation, developed a Skill or feature that allows anyone who has the Alexa app installed on their mobile phone or smart speaker to contact the Red Cross or make a one-time donation by simply saying the words “Alexa, open the Red Cross.” The capabilities were later expanded to include, among other things, training pills on how to prevent infection, reduce stress, or receive a basic first aid tutorial.

This skill opened the door to the implementation of a pilot project with the deployment of up to 100 Amazon Echo Show devices in the homes of elderly people in different provinces with the aim of continuing to explore the possibilities that this technology offers in helping and supporting vulnerable people.

WHAT IS THE STATUS?

2024-2025

The line of work with voice assistants to improve the lives of vulnerable groups is currently still open and new usage scenarios are being explored, such as the connection with home automation devices for people with disabilities or the use of these devices for data collection and monitoring of participants in pilot projects; lines of work materialized in projects such as the following:

    • Voice Assistants Project, allies in accessibility at home: The project was launched in 2024 with the aim of advancing accessibility in the home for people with motor disabilities using Alexa voice assistants and their interconnection with home automation devices. Throughout 2024, a pilot was carried out with 25 users, which will be expanded in 2025 to explore different needs and devices that can meet them.
    • CRECE Project – promoting capacities, competencies and empowerment of people to prevent institutionalization and deinstitutionalization: This project includes, among other technological solutions, the development of an Alexa skill to identify, understand, prevent and prepare for situations of unwanted loneliness. This skill provides a series of useful content that is presented to the user based on their needs and interests, and also allows feedback to be collected from the user with the aim of continuously improving the intervention and adapting it to what the person really needs. 2024 has served to carry out a small pilot of this solution with older people, but in 2025 we hope to improve and expand the capabilities of the solution and be able to test it with many other vulnerable groups.

In addition, a line of work has been opened with Amazon Web Services for the use of Artificial Intelligence for social purposes, in this case in the design of a chat-bot that complements the user experience on the Orientatech portal.

AVAILABLE RESOURCES

Click on the following link to view infographics with interesting Alexa and Google Assistant utilities.

Click on the following link to see Google Assistant analytics.

Click on the following link to view the Alexa Assistant analytics.

 

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