Overview

to supply their residents with voice-activated assistants, in an effort to make the residents feel there was a presence in the room with them. The house manager at Abbeyfield Westbourne also connected us with Professor Arlene Astell of Reading University, so we could curate an academic insight into our project. Starting in our office, we developed a ‘cheat sheet’ ahead of our first visit to the sheltered housing unit. We included how to activate the assistant, how to adjust the volume, and different types of questions it can be asked; such as what the weather will be or how to start playing a game. At the start of May 2019, we visited our local Abbeyfield home and set up each of the 5 selected residents with their personal voice assistant. With each resident, we described the ways in which they can speak to their assistant and asked them a couple of questions to get the most out of the technology. We needed to ensure the voice-assistant was going to be a benefit to their lives, so we sat with them and asked them about their day to day routine, if they ever felt lonely and how they spent their spare time. Once the residents were set up, we left them to get to know their voice-assistants and promised to return at least once a fortnight, so if they had any difficulties or questions we were able to help them. Our project was an outstanding success. We had impacted the residents life dramatically in a positive way.