Unlike most other computing devices that are known to isolate their users, Smart Voice Assistant Speaker (SVAS) appears to improve the perception of social cohesion (i.e., Group Harmony) among its co-users. We hypothesize that the social cues emanated from the continued, and habituated, use of SVAS develop the “illusion of intimacy” which, in turn, ripples through the entire group, and help fulfill the need for social integration. The data collected from 218 families support this hypothesis. We argue that just as a puppy dog contributes to a happy family, so does the SVAS contributes to the social dynamics by making the users unconsciously fulfill their psychological needs and by increasing actual conversations among its users. Incidentally, the study compared the relative influence of three factors (the beta weight of “Hedonic Motivation” being the highest, followed by “Compatibility,” and then “Perceived Security”) that, as a whole, explain over 60% of the variance in Satisfaction of post-adoption SVAS use.

Hey Alexa! A Magic Spell of Social Glue?: Sharing a Smart Voice Assistant Speaker and Its Impact on Users’ Perception of Group Harmony

Voice assistants (VA) like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana, and Bixby are increasingly becoming popular among the general mass. They are being used by a large group of people who use English as their primary mode of communication (native speakers) as well as those who are secondary English language speakers (non-native speakers). However, from an end-user perspective very little is known about the usability, acceptability, satisfaction, and the usage pattern of the VA's between these two different group of users. The current study aims to identify if there exist any differences between these two group of users with respect to the overall usability and the satisfaction received after using the VA's. To answer the research questions a mixed methodology approach is undertaken comprising of an online questionnaire survey in conjunction with a real-world testing of the VA's. The experiment is conducted in Thailand with 275 users for the questionnaire phase and 52 users for the testing phase from 7 different countries. Siri and Alexa are used as the VA representatives since they are the two most popular ones in Thailand. Results suggest no significant differences in usability between the two user groups, however the same being significant for the satisfaction levels.

User Experience with Smart Voice Assistants: The Accent Perspective

The market for voice assistants (VAs) and other allied voice-based smart-home products is gradually emerging. The initial growth has been slower than expected; therefore, an in-depth simultaneous intention and diffusion analysis is needed for identifying the relevant factors along with finding out the target consumers. This work uses technology acceptance model as the core for analyzing the adoption intention of the VA-based system and extends it with three additional factors: compatibility, perceived complementarity and privacy concerns. The diffusion analysis for the same is done using the multivariate probit model. Certain characteristics of the VA-based systems like the network effects between the products/services and the importance of protecting personal information are considered in this work, apart from various demographic variables like age, gender, income and education levels. Two separate surveys were conducted for the purpose of data collection from 315 and 1945 participants residing in Thailand for analyzing the adoption and diffusion scenario, respectively. The results show that usefulness, ease of use, compatibility and perceived complementarity have significant positive effects on the purchase intention. In terms of diffusion of the VA market, unlike other Information Communication Technology-based products/services, the results show that the senior consumers are more likely to purchase the VAs and other allied smart-home devices within a given time frame when compared to the younger consumers. Therefore, new strategies should be developed that promote the usage of VAs by the young population for increasing the market demand.

Analyzing the adoption and diffusion of voice-enabled smart-home systems: empirical evidence from Thailand

In the absence of traditional communication infrastructures, the choice of available technologies for building data collection and control systems in remote areas is very limited. This paper reviews and analyzes protocols and technologies for transferring Internet of Things (IoT) data and presents an architecture for a hybrid IoT-satellite network, which includes a long range (LoRa) low power wide area network (LPWAN) terrestrial network for data collection and an Iridium satellite system for backhaul connectivity. Simulation modelling, together with a specialized experimental stand, allowed us to study the applicability of different methods of information presentation for the case of transmitting IoT data over low-speed satellite communication channels. We proposed a data encoding and packaging scheme called GDEP (Gateway Data Encoding and Packaging). It is based on the combination of data format conversion at the connection points of a heterogeneous network and message packaging. GDEP enabled the reduction of the number of utilized Short Burst Data (SBD) containers and the overall transmitted data size by almost five times.

Study of Data Transfer in a Heterogeneous LoRa-Satellite Network for the Internet of Remote Things

Based on the post-acceptance model of information system continuance (PAMISC), this study investigates the influence of the early-stage users' personal traits (specifically personal innovativeness and technology anxiety) and ex-post instrumentality perceptions (specifically price value, hedonic motivation, compatibility and perceived security) on social diffusion of smart technologies measured by the intention to recommend artificial intelligence-based voice assistant systems (AIVAS) to others.,Survey data from 400 US AIVAS users were collected and analyzed with Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 18.0 and the partial least square technique using advanced analysis of composites (ADANCO) 2.1.,AIVAS technology is presently at the early stage of market penetration (about 25% of market penetration in the USA). A survey of AIVAS technology users reveals that personal innovativeness is directly and indirectly (through confirmation and continuance) associated with a stronger intention to recommend the use of the device to others. Confirmation is associated with all four ex-post instrumentality perceptions (hedonic motivation, compatibility, price value and perceived security). Among the four, however, only hedonic motivation and compatibility are significant predictors of satisfaction, which lead to use continuance and, eventually, intention to recommend. Finally, technology anxiety is found to be indirectly (but not directly) associated with a lower intention to recommend.,This is the first study conducted on the early-stage AIVAS users that evaluates the influence of both personal traits and ex-post instrumentality perceptions on users' intention for continuance and recommendation to others.

The continuation and recommendation intention of artificial intelligence-based voice assistant systems (AIVAS): the influence of personal traits

Artificial intelligence technologies are beginning to be actively used in human life, this is facilitated by the appearance and wide dissemination of the Internet of Things (IoT). Autonomous devices are becoming smarter in their way to interact with both a human and themselves. New capacities lead to creation of various systems for integration of smart things into Social Networks of the Internet of Things. One of the relevant trends in artificial intelligence is the technology of recognizing the natural language of a human. New insights in this topic can lead to new means of natural human-machine interaction, in which the machine would learn how to understand human's language, adjusting and interacting in it. One of such tools is voice assistant, which can be integrated into many other intelligent systems. In this paper, the principles of the functioning of voice assistants are described, its main shortcomings and limitations are given. The method of creating a local voice assistant without using cloud services is described, which allows to significantly expand the applicability of such devices in the future.

Investigation and development of the intelligent voice assistant for the Internet of Things using machine learning

LoRa wireless network has become a widely spread technology among IoT systems recently. LoRa allows to use various ISM bands such as 433 MHz, 868 MHz and 915 MHz. During this study 433 MHz and 868 MHz frequencies have been compared. Parameters such as SNR and RSSI were measured at different floors and visualized. A comparative table of packet delivery ratio at various spreading factors can be found in this paper. A series of range experiments at different spreading factors showed that 433 MHz LoRa module gains a stronger signal. However, 868 MHz LoRa module shows higher percentage of received packets. It has been concluded that for nine-story building with concrete floors it is better to deploy 868 MHz LoRa network at 10th spreading factor.

Study of LoRa Performance at 433 MHz and 868 MHz Bands Inside a Multistory Building

Development of an Educational Kit for Learning IoT

The article presents an analysis of the possibilities and limitations of the use of information and communication technologies, in particular the Internet of things as an effective tool for artistic and sociocultural practices in the context of transformations of cultural industries. It is revealed that such radical transformations lead to a change in the formats of cultural objects, their content and form. The prospects of technological development are analyzed and the framework of interdisciplinary research is set.

Alexey Rolich

Papers

Investigation and development of the intelligent voice assistant for the Internet of Things using machine learning

Study of Data Transfer in a Heterogeneous LoRa-Satellite Network for the Internet of Remote Things

Study of LoRa Performance at 433 MHz and 868 MHz Bands Inside a Multistory Building

Development of an Educational Kit for Learning IoT

The Use of Internet of Things Technologies Within the Frames of the Cultural Industry: Opportunities, Restrictions, Prospects