Only 35% of seniors (over 65 years of age) in the U.S. use the Internet, reflecting an age-based digital divide when compared with the fact that 90% adults in the ages of 19-29 use the Internet. This project will address this divide through a novel approach that employs conversational agent technology to reduce the critical cognitive and social-psychological barriers hindering older users in web-based consumer environments. The goal of this project is to broaden the engagement of the growing yet underrepresented senior population in Internet technology, a medium that can dramatically improve their quality of life. This goal closely aligns with the human-centered computing objective of transforming the human-computer interaction experience through the development of systems that are aware of the abilities and special needs of people that use them. Research on animated pedagogical agents has revealed promising results on the effectiveness of agents in learning and motivation. However, no previous research program has investigated how agent technology can be designed to promote autonomy and empowerment in the older population, particularly in web-based consumer environments, involving multi-dimensional information processing and complex decision-making. To address this critical gap in the research, this project will systematically investigate, three aspects of agent interactions with older users: 1) locus of control (agent vs. user), 2) interactional style (functional vs. relational), and 3) modality of exchange (unimodal-voice vs. unimodal-text vs. dualmodal-voice + text). This research program will apply a multi-phase, mixed-methods approach involving qualitative studies in the first phase, and a series of controlled experiments with over 400 older users in subsequent phases. The purpose is to examine the effectiveness of the three aspects of agent-user interaction in: 1) reducing cognitive barriers (reducing information load, increasing navigation convenience, enhancing information search and retrieval ease), 2) reducing social-psychological barriers (enhancing control and efficacy, increasing trust, enhancing perception of social support), and 3) increasing Internet technology use intent. The experimental studies will further determine whether users' gender, visual or hearing impairments, and prior Internet competency interact with the three aspects of agent-user interaction to affect the desired outcomes. The findings from this project will generate new knowledge on how multimodal systems employing conversational agents can be designed for the abilities and special needs of older users leading to a potentially transformative and empowering experience for this underrepresented population in information technology.
Seniors are increasingly finding the necessity to engage in web-based consumer environments (e.g., online banking, shopping, trading, travel reservations). While the functionality of agents in these domains merits examination, the broader significance of this project lies in its ability to inform the development of agent-mediated interfaces for other applications such as websites that provide important health and medical information to seniors. Anecdotal evidence gathered by the project team from a prototype system has revealed the transformative potential of this technology for older users. This pilot research funded by the Office of Outreach at Auburn University, has extended the impact of this project to constituents in the state of Alabama. In addition to research, outreach will also serve as an important mission in the dissemination of future findings from this project to stakeholders at local and national levels. With the goal of enhancing diversity in research and education, this project will also involve a greater representation of African-American (AA) study participants from surrounding counties in Alabama, and actively engage AA graduate students, who are already part of the PI's lab in the educational goal of this project. This project will further enhance the infrastructure for research and education across two disciplines through an interdisciplinary seminar course will be offered to graduate students in computer science and consumer affairs to enhance the understanding of the future researchers on how humans perceive and use computing artifacts such as conversational agents.
