CAREER: Improving the Accessibility and Trust of Voice-based Social Media for Small Farmers in Developing Regions

世界粮食安全有赖于提高发展中国家小农的生产率和盈利能力。不幸的是，这些农民中的许多人没有从最新的信息和技术中受益。有了合适的渠道，这些农民就可以解决他们自己的问题。不幸的是，由于他们的教育和技术机会往往有限，以文本为基础、以英语为主导的互联网对世界各地的大多数小农户来说并不是一个有用的资源。另一方面，低成本的移动电话和无线连接正在给通信带来革命性的变化。这项研究试图了解部署在移动电话上的基于语音的社交媒体如何被农业社区用于协作解决问题、获取信息和产生知识。特别是，研究人员对以下研究问题感兴趣。1)对于受过有限正规教育的用户，我们如何使基于语音的用户界面更直观、更易于访问？2)对于没有评估在线信息资源经验的用户，我们如何使基于语音的信息更值得信任？3)提供访问新信息源和建议的途径有何经济影响？回答这些问题可以改进基于语音的社交媒体应用程序在全球的设计和采用。对于其他没有经验的用户，如老年人，先进的技术也可以让他们更直观地获取信息。使边缘化群体更容易获得信息和服务具有造福社会的巨大潜力。通过发出更多的声音，政府和服务组织可以更好地了解和满足他们的需求。这项研究将与印度当地的非营利组织和社区团体合作进行，他们正在积极开发和部署真实的、可工作的语音应用程序。通过设计和测试概念验证应用程序，我们可以通过可用性、采用率和影响力的经验演示来影响更广泛的扩展。这项研究为学生提供了开发新的可持续企业和工作产品的机会。通过在国外进行实地考察，美国学生将对在那里工作的机会和挑战有更广泛的了解。这样的机会可以吸引不同的计算机科学新生--包括女性和少数族裔。

World food security depends on improving the productivity and profitability of small farmers across the developing world. Unfortunately, many of these farmers do not benefit from the latest information and technologies. With the right access, these farmers could solve their own problem. Unfortunately, due to their often limited education and technological access, the text-based, English-dominated Internet is not a useful resource for most small farmers across the world. On the other hand, low-cost mobile phones and wireless connectivity are revolutionizing communications. This research seeks to understand how voice-based social media, deployed on mobile phones, can be used by agrarian communities for collaborative problem-solving, information access and knowledge generation. In particular, the investigators are interested in the following research questions. 1) How can we make voice-based user interfaces more intuitive and accessible for users with limited formal education? 2) How can we make voice-based information more trust-worthy for users with no prior experience assessing online information resources? 3) What is the economic impact of providing access to new sources of information and advice?Answering these questions can improve the design and adoption of voice-based social media applications worldwide. Advances could also make information access more intuitive for other inexperienced users, such as the elderly. Making information and services more accessible to marginalized groups holds tremendous potential for benefiting society. By making more voices heard, governments and service organizations can better understand and address their needs. This research will be conducted in collaboration with local non-profit organizations and community groups in India, who are actively developing and deploying real, working voice applications. By designing and testing proof-of-concept applications, we can influence wider scaling through empirical demonstrations of usability, adoption and impact. This research provides opportunities for students to develop new sustainable enterprises and working products. By conducting fieldwork abroad, U.S.-based students will develop a broader understanding of the opportunities and challenges of working there. Such opportunities can attract diverse new students to Computer Science - including women and minorities.