Inclusively Developed Voice Assistant Technology for Elderly Care

患有痴呆症（PwD）的人经常需要提醒才能完成日常活动，如洗澡、吃饭和服药。这些提醒可以是冰箱上的便利贴，护理人员的电话，或者手机上的提醒。然而，一个简单的提醒完成任务可能是不够的。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秒钟就有一名患者患上痴呆症，全球每年有1000万新病例（世卫组织）。GG Care是一项独特的技术，它利用亚马逊Alexa通过交互式语音提醒来支持人们的日常活动，称为数字干预（DIs）。我们的DIs包括药物提醒、访客即将到来的通知、保持健康的提醒以及建立社交联系的提示。本计划旨在为残疾人士建立一个照顾自己或改善生活质素的框架。GG Care利用亚马逊Alexa的语音助手技术来帮助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，帮助更多的老年人，无论他们的认知能力如何，并通过电话提供服务。护理人员可以使用我们的web界面和Alexa技能为PwD提供交互式提醒。DIs通过将每个任务分解为一系列问题和提示的易于理解的步骤来简化任务的复杂性。单个用户只与他们的声音进行交互；没有笨拙的菜单或按钮。当提醒个人服药时，GG Care首先询问他们是否知道在哪里可以找到他们的药物。如果他们需要帮助，GG Care会：*提供地点提示。给他们时间去找回它。*确认他们找到了并服用了他们的药物。我们将扩展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，通过电话联系可以缩小技术差距。没有了这些负担，我们就可以为更多的护理人员提供服务。我们的功能将通过使用测试平台来增加，以创建一个新功能，允许护理人员录制自己的声音，以便在IVR系统中使用。通过使用熟悉的声音，护理人员将更容易接受指导，并能更好地保持社会联系。

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.