Teacher guide Personal
Teacher guide Personal assistant Many of us already have virtual personal assistants in our homes. Some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond via synthesised voices. Users can ask their assistants questions, control home automation devices and media playback via voice, and manage other basic tasks such as email, to-do lists, and calendars with verbal commands. More and more new developments and bespoke products are emerging to meet specific needs, including personal assistants for older people. Current products can perform tasks or services like health monitoring, wearable biometric tracking (such as fitbits), slip, trip and fall detection, and provide virtual companionship. Moreover, companies are continuously working on new developments to meet the needs of older people. In this project, students will design their own personal assistant for an older person. They will need to research what the needs of older people are, and come up with innovative solutions to meet those needs. Prompts • What routine challenges do elderly people face? Find out what kinds of task(s) might present older people with difficulties. • What tasks might digital devices be well suited to help with? What tasks need a human touch? • How would you manage concerns about privacy or dignity? • How will you control your assistant? Remember, it needs to be easy to use. • Try experimenting with using existing virtual assistants and connecting them to devices to perform tasks in the home. 10
Student brief Personal assistant Many of us already have virtual personal assistants in our homes. Some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond to questions, control other electronic and home automation devices, and manage some basic tasks. More and more new developments and bespoke products are emerging to meet specific needs, including health monitoring, wearable biometric tracking (like fitbits), slip, trip and fall detection, and virtual companionship. Imagine you are a carer that visits elderly people in their homes. You know that, for some of them, you are the only help they have, and that for a large part of the day they are alone in the house. Design your own personal assistant specifically for the needs of older people. Getting started Start by researching what the needs of older people are. You could interview some older people that you know, or contact an organisation that works with older people in your area. Think about how a virtual assistant and smart devices might be able to meet those needs. Useful resources • A virtual assistant helping older people stay active https://ec.europa.eu/digital-singlemarket/en/news/alfred-virtual-assistanthelping-older-people-stay-active • Virtal agents as daily assistants https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978- 3-642-40415-3_7 • Connecting roomba to Google assistant https://hackernoon.com/how-i-set-up-roomcleaning-automation-with-google-home-homeassistant-and-xiaomi-vacuum-cleaner- 9149e0267e6d • Compatible commands for a wifi enabled robot and a Google Assistant enabled device https://homesupport.irobot.com/app/answers/ detail/a_id/1509/~/compatible-commands-fora-wi-fi-connected-robot-and-a-googleassistant-enabled • Building chatbot with and without coding skills https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/buildi ng-chatbot-with-and-without-coding-skillsbc181d3bb025 • Chatterbot https://chatterbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/ Health and safety To avoid any accidents, make sure you stick to the following health and safety guidelines before getting started: • Find out if any of the materials, equipment or methods are hazardous using http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resources/S tudent-Safety-Sheets/ to assess the risks (think about what could go wrong and how serious it might be). • Decide what you need to do to reduce any risks (such as wearing personal protective equipment, knowing how to deal with emergencies and so on). • Make sure there is plenty of space to work. • Clear up slip or trip hazards promptly. • Make sure your teacher agrees with your plan and risk assessment. 11
