How to design voice as a companion

Exploring the future of voice user interfaces

How to design voice as a companion?

Vikas Luthra

Source: Vikram Kakati Photography

Story of “Her”

Voice Based assistants is everywhere

Google Now

Google Home

Social Robots

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/stephengay/vui-new-ixda

The Personal Assistants

What’s Our Goal?

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/stephengay/vui-new-ixda

HumanizePersonal Assistants

How did we do it?

Understand Human-HumanInteractions

Facilitate Human-Human Like Interactions

We used a human centered design technique

called Forced Photo Metaphor Elicitation

We took random collection of 120 photos

Forced Photo Metaphor Elicitation(FMET)

We asked them….Choose at least 5 pictures from a spread of 120 pictures to express:

what is a companion for you?

What did we get out it?

“Even though we have differences I appreciate that My wife likes train travel.

You had to have something in common. You can’t be companion with somebody who doesn’t have anything in common”

“My best friend will always think what ever I think, may be she will also think

the same thing, whatever I feel she will also feel the same sometimes, so that need is what attracts.”

“My sister will respond to all my feelings, whatever I say she will respond

properly. Whatever I expect she will comeback with that, even it is not expected still she will respond to me. She is quite similar to me not completely.”

User Stories: What is a companion for you?

”You kind of feel that you need certain people that will be behind you,

accompany you in any situation without thinking of any pros and cons. Even though you don’t feed dog once or twice this dog wouldn’t stop coming after you”

“I like Indian music which is more individualistic, which is done in a more solo,

it is melodious not like an English orchestra of 50 people

User Stories: What is a companion for you?

Understanding these Stories.

Doing Affinity analysis and Consensus Mapping toemerge different categories

Hierarchical Structure


Characteristics of Companionship

Forced Photo Metaphor Elicitation

Power and Control

Reacher and Settler

Amplified Emotions

Similarly, through our user data we inferred that whenever a person

experiences amplified emotions such as joy, fear, anger, etc., they are

inclined to have their companion(s) experience / express emotions

alongside them. The expressed emotions would be dependent on the

entities existing mental and emotional state, their interpersonal

relationships etc.

Amplified Emotions

Sensorial Immersion

When companionship matures, there is a certain sensory immersion observed

between the entities, where each of them connects by sensorial intimation like

touch, smell or visual and become extremely aware of each other presence.

Sense of attachment

As strong connection begins to develop between the two companions,

the attachment becomes stronger. This could lead to building of trust

and a sense of protection between the entities, where the Reacher seeks

for protection from the settler and settler is the protection provider.


Human Companionship Framework

Human CompanionshipFramework






The Childhood

Stage 1 and 2: The child hood

Compatibility: Knowing and understanding each other to become compatible

Familiarity: Leads to having a level of ease ,comfort, freedom among the companions is necessary for building of a good compatibility. It also depends whether your companion allows you to be natural self and more being themselves. Familiarity could be in terms of: interest, likes or dislikes, beliefs and attitudes ,behavior

Curiosity:Companionship is more about being curious about each other and discovering and learning about each other over a period of time.

Stage 1 and 2: The childhood

Presence: A state of making yourself felt

AcknowledgementThe presence is felt when the companion shows an action in a way that one has noticed someone or something.

Helpful. Giving or ready to give help even if they are not there in the same situation.

System getting familiar by understanding his preferences and trying to give him a partner voice which is more compatible and personalized to him

Curiosity

“I want to learn everything about everything”

Acknowledgement

“Being there for greetings. ”


The Teenage

Compatibility: More mutual connection and dependability

Liking and fondness: Compatibility due to fondness, affection. It is a phenomena which inculcates liking to certain level.

Symbiosis: Having an interdependent relationship between companion helps in developing compatibility among them.

Stage 3 and 4: The teenage

Presence: Being present and showing concern and assistance

HelpfulA companion will be concerned more with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own; unselfish.

EmpathyHaving a sense of understanding, trying to go out of their way to help; Being present if needed or not


Trustworthiness: Building and display of trust through help and dependency

DependabilityLevel of trust also depends on how reliable one companion could be to the other in any situation.

Honesty and opennessBuilding of trust is also dependent on companion being honest to each other and not telling liesA companion should not hide anything and be completely open about every aspect.

Privacy and SecurityCompanion should be completely faithful and should not disclose private or personal information to others.


Mutual Liking and Admiration, Symbiosis:

“I like the way you look a things “

“Great you did a good job, John”

S: “How long before your breakup”

J: “Oh how do you Know”

S: “I checked all your mail”

J: “You are being nosy here”

Showing Concern, though not open initially

Maintaining the connect, Compatibility, Presence. Trust:

Being Non-Judgemental , Selflessness-No desire, no expectation Building of trust depends on companion doing things for each other without any purpose or motive, without expecting anything in return.EngrossedThe connect becomes so strong that you have no track of time, or any other thingComfortAn instance or space where the connection is totally free of thoughtsAssociation with timeBuilding value in a relation with time. More time spent, more the bond gets stronger

Stage 5: The adult

Social Roles/Personas(Human Roles)

Social Roles/Personas(Objects)


Conclusions

What these study helped and what our next plan?

• Identified what makes a voice based system, a companion to the user.

• Achieved by evolving a companionship framework and then identifying how companionship can be influenced by making appropriate modulations to the voice properties.

• Next, Design specific solutions for social robot interactions.

Summing Up:

Design for you and only youTaking each individual as different and learning patterns for personalization.

Designing for voice is different from others

Dynamic and no hierarchy: Conversation through voice could follow any path thus predictability becomes difficult and your design need to be more dynamic than a single solution


A multidisciplinary challenge

It’s a multidisciplinary field which require experts from different areas and require more collaboration and multilevel skillsets


Source: TechCrunch

Dialog evokes Meaning, identity, emotion and trust.

The goal will be to communicate with devices as we would be with each other – as humans

The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday lives to be indistinguishable from it

Mark Weiser-1991


Thank You


Questions?

https://embedwistia-a.akamaihd.net/deliveries/eaff8c207434a95f27a222a73a555ae24e45106a.jpg

http://gettyimagesmicrosite.com/gettyimagessites/istock/articles/2015trends/images/SensoryImmersion1.jpg

https://vitalrecord.tamhsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/emotions-genetics.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3388/3344044448_55bbe6f420_b.jpg

http://s.isha.ws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/what-is-your-deepest-attachment.jpg

http://www.slideshare.net/peezarelli/evangelizing-and-designing-voice-user-interface-adopting-vui-in-a-gui-world?qid=2a0551d9-6851-4a65-89ae-446831c09f76&v=&b=&from_search=9

https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/21/designing-for-voice-differs-from-traditional-ux/

Weiser, M. (1991). The computer for the 21st century. Scientific american, 265(3), 94-104.Chicago

References

https://embedwistia-a.akamaihd.net/deliveries/eaff8c207434a95f27a222a73a555ae24e45106a.jpg

http://gettyimagesmicrosite.com/gettyimagessites/istock/articles/2015trends/images/SensoryImmersion1.jpg

https://vitalrecord.tamhsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/emotions-genetics.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3388/3344044448_55bbe6f420_b.jpg

http://s.isha.ws/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/what-is-your-deepest-attachment.jpg

http://www.slideshare.net/peezarelli/evangelizing-and-designing-voice-user-interface-adopting-vui-in-a-gui-world?qid=2a0551d9-6851-4a65-89ae-446831c09f76&v=&b=&from_search=9

https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/21/designing-for-voice-differs-from-traditional-ux/