Voice assistant technology applied to populations with developmental and physical disabilities

ABSTRACT

Emerging assistive technologies (AT), such as voice assistants (VA), impact the citizenry and organisations. Amongst those affected, there is a group of people with developmental and physical disabilities that have been impacted the most. As the use of technology evolves, more studies analysing the impact of VA on these populations are emerging. However, there is still a dearth of studies congregating results systematically, in which it would be possible to understand the impact of VA technologies on different contexts. Thus, our study aims to understand the applicability and impact of VAs on the lives of people with disabilities and the perspectives of this emerging AT. Drawn on a rigorous systematic literature review using the PRISMA protocol, we included 68 articles for analysis after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. We identified seven intertwined themes related to the benefits and challenges of VA technologies. The emergent benefits are the impact on users’ ecosystem and well-being and economic and social benefits; conversely, the challenges are inherent issues related to technology, financial and social challenges. We contribute to theory and practice by understanding the impact of VAs on populations with disabilities’ ecosystem and well-being at the micro, meso and macro-levels of the phenomena.

HIGHLIGHTS

• VA technology transforms the way people with disability interact in their ecosystem

• VA technology positively impacts people with disabilities’ well-being and ecosystem

• VA issues are related to data privacy and technology accessibility

• Benefits and challenges of the VA adoption touches the micro, meso and macro-levels of the ecosystem

• Performance analysis, diverse populations and understanding of social aspects, are the trending topics for future research

KEYWORDS:

• Assistive technology
• developmental disability
• disabilities
• people with disability
• physical disability
• voice assistant

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the generosity of the e-Healthcare Research Group, and the Federal University of Technology Paraná's Biomedical Engineering Postgraduate Research Programme – the support of both has been invaluable in putting this theme together.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).