2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Voice Against Bias: Exploring Voice Assistants as a Method of Countering Implicit Bias
| Project/Area Number |
21K18005
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
シーボーン ケイティー 東京工業大学, 工学院, 准教授 (70831262)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | HCI / voice assistant / implicit bias / ageism / older adults / intergenerational / voice ux / user experience |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has placed severe restrictions on the planned research, leading to delays and changes in the research plan. Nevertheless, several research objectives and accomplishments can be reported. As per the plan, a team of student researchers and developers was assembled. Ethics was obtained. Recruitment was carried out using online participant pools and local organizations. In particular, three older adults were recruited to provide voice recordings, which are now being processed. As per the COVID-19 adjusted plan, one modern ageism instrument was translated to Japanese from English. Preliminary validation was carried out in two studies (n = 157). The results of the first study were presented at The 8th Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology (AGen2022) and published in a white paper. Instead of interviews and co-design workshops, an online elicitation study using a survey format was conducted with Japanese and English speakers (n = 130). The results are currently under review in a journal. Finally, the text-to-speech (TTS) part of the voice assistant has been developed.
Sawa, Y., & Seaborn, K. (2022). Localizing the Ambivalent Ageism Scale for Japan. Proceedings of the 8th Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology, No. 62304.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
This research was delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. International student researchers were not able to come to Japan, so development was limited and finally delayed. Participants, especially older adults, could not join face-to-face research. In the end, the planned research studies had to be changed in order to make progress. For this, online participant pools and survey formats were used instead of the planned face-to-face interviews and co-design workshops. Recording equipment was mailed to and from older adults in their homes to record the voices to be used to develop the voice assistant.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The plan will continue to be adjusted based on the COVID-19 situation. If at all possible, user studies will be carried out with younger and older participants, online (via Zoom) if necessary. International students are gradually being allowed entry to Japan, so development should be concluded, if delayed. Experiment 1 may need to be shifted from Q2 to Q3 or Q4 depending on the completion of these two objectives. Experiment 2 may subsequently be delayed until Q4 or the following year. Supplementary studies are planned, including a systematic review, manipulation check studies, drawing studies, and further validation of the newly translated modern ageism instrument.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the research and required changes to how it was conducted (see the report for details). However, the situation appears to be improving. The usage plan for the next fiscal year is to conduct the studies that could not be done last year due to COVID-19. Additionally, international research students are coming to Japan. They will be paid for their work, especially development of the voice assistant. If older adults still cannot participate in face-to-face research, online or distance methods will be used.
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| Remarks |
This will be an open science initiative as much as possible. Therefore, data and other research materials will be registered and provided on OSF whenever possible.
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