In this paper, we present the results of our long-term study on use of a voice assistant (Amazon Alexa via Amazon Echo Dot) in nine families with children and no previous experience with this technology. The study was conducted over the course of 5 weeks during which the families could interact with the device freely. Three house visits were made to collect empirical data from the adult participants in form of questionnaires. Additionally, conversational data from log files of the voice assistant were obtained. These data were annotated and analyzed with a focus on communication breakdowns during human-assistant interaction. We investigate user behavior for both adults and children in such situations, its reasons and consequences for user satisfaction. This article provides qualitative analysis of three particularly interesting breakdown cases, as well as statistical analysis along several hypotheses and research questions combining empirical and conversational data. Described cases of communication breakdown illustrate findings from existing literature on the topic. The statistical analysis paints a mixed picture, however, it helped us identify further avenues for research, some of which can be explored with our data set in the future. We found a significant negative effect of the number of abandoned failed requests on user satisfaction, contrary to the number of successfully repaired requests that had no influence on user satisfaction. We discovered that users are more inclined to use reformulation as repair strategy when they do not perceive the emergence of miscommunication as their fault. We could not identify a significant effect of internal reasons for the choice of other strategies, so we suggest that situational clues such as the immediate response of the voice assistant are more important for the choice of repair strategy. Our results also hint that users distinguish between repair strategies differently, as the self-perceived frequency of repetitions and abortions of requests were found to be positive predictors for the use of reformulation-based strategies. With regards to the long-term aspect of the study, use of repetition as a repair strategy by both children and adults significantly decreased with time, no other changes were found for other strategies. Additionally, no significant impact of age on the choice of repair strategy was found, as well as no interaction effect between age and time.
It has long been observed that people treat technical entities like computers as social actors. Numerous studies have been conducted on media equation theory, which describes users' social reactions toward devices to be unconscious. These users consider this inappropriate when thought about consciously. However, both long-term trends as well as the reactions of children have been neglected-although children might indeed differ in their reactions, as they are especially prone to the tendency to humanize and anthropomorphize. This study examined the social behavior of 20 children aged six to twelve toward a voice assistant during a fiveweek field study. In the course of three sessions, interviews were conducted to assess the children's tendency to socially react to the devices and to what extent they perceive such reactions as appropriate. Additionally, the tendency to anthropomorphize was assessed together with qualitative data to gain insight into cues that would trigger anthropomorphization. Results indicate that age and duration have an effect on the tendency to anthropomorphize. However, age and duration have only a partial effect on social reactions and the evaluation of their appropriateness. Furthermore, natural speech appeared to be a rather strong cue in triggering tendencies to anthropomorphize in the children. CCS CONCEPTS • Empirical studies in HCI • HCI theory, concepts and models • Children • Natural language interfaces
ZusammenfassungVirtual Reality (VR) Technologien sind weit mehr als bloße Plattformen für Videospiele und Unterhaltung. Sie dienen Unternehmen aus unterschiedlichen Branchen als Werkzeuge zur Verbesserung der virtuellen Kommunikation und Teamarbeit. Insbesondere bei Mitarbeiter*innen, die in weit verbreiteten Teams arbeiten, kann VR dazu dienen, Probleme zu visualisieren und die Zusammenarbeit zu erleichtern. Viele Unternehmen beschäftigen jedoch nicht nur festangestellte Mitarbeiter*innen, sondern auch Freiberufler*innen und digitale Nomad*innen. Diese sind zwar oft flexibel und gut qualifiziert, jedoch stellen sie Unternehmen auch vor neue Herausforderungen, da ihr Selbstverständnis des Arbeitens oft mit den festen Strukturen der Unternehmen kollidiert. VR Technologien können dazu beitragen, die Zusammenarbeit mit Freiberufler*innen, digitalen Nomad*innen und anderen Remote-Arbeitenden zu erleichtern. Die Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze, die mit dem Einsatz von VR verbunden sind, wurden jedoch noch nicht systematisch untersucht, obwohl VR-Technologien immer häufiger zum Einsatz kommen. Deshalb werden in diesem Beitrag die Ergebnisse einer systematischen Literaturanalyse zu den Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätzen präsentiert und mit acht Remote-arbeitenden Expert*innen diskutiert. Dazu wurden vier Kategorien von Herausforderungen ermittelt: Organisatorische, unternehmensbezogene, benutzerbezogene und technische Hindernisse. Für jede Kategorie werden entsprechende Handlungsempfehlungen bereitgestellt. Dieser Beitrag bietet erste Einblicke in die Nutzung von VR Technologien zur Verbesserung der Zusammenarbeit von digitalen Nomad*innen und anderen Remote-arbeitenden Freiberufler*innen und zeigt Unternehmen einen innovativen Ansatz auf. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse können ebenfalls angewendet werden, um aufkommende Herausforderungen zu identifizieren, zu vermeiden und zu adressieren. Dies verbessert die virtuelle Zusammenarbeit in Unternehmen und unter digitalen Nomad*innen und Freiberufler*innen.
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