Inclusively Developed Voice Assistant Technology for Elderly Care

独家研发养老语音助手技术

• 批准号: 10059330
• 金额: $ 6.37万
• 依托单位: GRANGRAN LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Grant for R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10059330
• 关键词: Inclusively; Developed; Voice; Assistant; Technology

People with Dementia (PwD) often need reminders to complete everyday activities like showering, eating, and taking medication. These reminders could be a post-it note on the fridge, a call from a carer, or an alert on their mobile. However, a simple reminder to complete a task can be insufficient.There are presently 47m people worldwide living with dementia and by 2030 this number will be 75m. Every 3 seconds, a patient develops dementia, and there are 10 million new cases every year around the globe(WHO).GG Care is a unique technology that uses Amazon Alexa to support a person's everyday activities through interactive voice reminders, called Digital Interventions (DIs). Our DIs include medication reminders, notifications that visitors are coming, reminders to stay healthy, and prompts to make social connections.This project aims to create a framework for PwD to care for themselves or improve their quality of life. GG Care harnesses Amazon Alexa's voice assistant technology to help PwD complete tasks and retain independence. This project enables our technology to be more inclusive by assisting the wider elderly population regardless of cognitive ability and offering our services via the telephone.Carers can use our web interface and Alexa Skill to provide interactive reminders for PwD. The DIs simplify the complexity of tasks by breaking each task into easily digestible steps with a series of questions and prompts. The individual user interacts only with their voice; there are no clunky menus or buttons.When reminding the individual to take medication, GG Care first asks if they know where to find their medication. If they need assistance, GG Care will:* Provide a hint for the location.* Give them time to retrieve it.* Confirm they found it and take their medication.We will extend the voice capabilities of our current technology to increase accessibility through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone system. Being accessible by telephone closes the technological gap for those without an Internet connection or less tech-savvy. Without those burdens, we can scale our services to more care residents.Our functionality will increase by using the testbed to create a new feature allowing carers to record their own voice for use in the IVR system. By using a familiar voice, the care resident will be more receptive to the instruction and better able to stay socially connected.

痴呆症(PWD)患者经常需要提醒他们完成洗澡、吃饭和服药等日常活动。这些提醒可以是冰箱上的便利贴，护理员的电话，或者手机上的警报。然而，完成一项任务的简单提醒可能是不够的。目前，全球有4700万人患有痴呆症，到2030年，这一数字将达到7500万。每3秒就有一名患者患上痴呆症，全球每年新增1000万例(WHO)。GG Care是一项独特的技术，它使用Amazon Alexa通过交互式语音提醒支持人们的日常活动，称为数字干预(DIS)。我们的计划包括药物提醒、访客来访通知、保持健康的提醒，以及建立社交联系的提示。这项计划旨在为残疾人士建立一个照顾自己或改善其生活质素的架构。GG Care利用Amazon Alexa的语音助手技术帮助PWD完成任务并保持独立性。这个项目使我们的技术更具包容性，帮助更广泛的老年人口，而不考虑认知能力，并通过电话提供我们的服务。照顾者可以使用我们的网络界面和Alexa技能为残疾人士提供互动提醒。DIS通过用一系列问题和提示将每个任务分解成容易理解的步骤来简化任务的复杂性。个人用户只与他们的语音交互；没有笨重的菜单或按钮。当提醒个人服药时，GG Care首先询问他们是否知道哪里可以找到他们的药物。如果他们需要帮助，GG Care将：*提供位置提示。*给他们时间来找回它。*确认他们找到了它并服药。我们将扩展我们现有技术的语音功能，通过交互式语音应答(IVR)电话系统增加可访问性。对于那些没有互联网连接或不太懂技术的人来说，通过电话可以接近他们，缩小了技术差距。在没有这些负担的情况下，我们可以将我们的服务扩展到更多的护理住院医生。通过使用TestBed创建一个新功能，允许护理人员录制他们自己的声音，以便在IVR系统中使用，我们的功能将会增加。通过使用熟悉的声音，护理住院医生将更容易接受指导，并能够更好地保持社交联系。