Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) are quickly becoming ubiquitous. The natural language interface of VUIs may be more usable for some groups of users, such as those who may face challenges using physical input methods including older adults and people living with a disability. This study explores research on the use of VUIs by one such group, older adults. We conducted a systematic literature review of research published in the Association of Computing Machinery Digital Library that addresses perception and use of VUIs by older adults. We identified an emerging body of research examining older adults' use and perceptions of VUIs. This research revealed several potential benefits of voice interaction for older adults while also highlighting how the novelty of the technology may be a barrier to adoption. We conclude with a call for further HCI research in this area. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Natural language interfaces; HCI design and evaluation methods; • General and reference → Surveys and overviews.

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We conducted a systematic literature review of the human factors literature at the intersection of voice user interfaces (VUI) and older adults among Human Factors publications. Our review was limited to research published in the past 50 years (1970 – 2020) in either the journal Human Factors or the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. While we included a broad array of search terms related to VUIs, we found very few articles about VUIs that were specifically focused on designing for older adults or used older adults as participants in studies. Of the 26 human factors publications we did find that were related to this topic, most found older adults take more time to operate VUIs and/or made more errors than younger adults, whereas a minority of publications found no age-related differences. We concluded that age-related differences in the use of VUIs are likely task specific.

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