Voice-activated digital home assistants (DHA) like the Amazon Echo hold great potential to support the everyday home activities of older adults— and especially those with disabilities. However, there is a need to understand more about how these devices are perceived by this population. A new TechSAge article in Gerontechnology provides insights on the initial perceptions and use of DHA devices by older adults with disabilities. The research team introduced two different Amazon Echo form-factors to a group of older adults with and without disabilities, observed their initial use of the devices, and interviewed participants on their experiences. Older adults with no prior use of DHAs demonstrated positive initial attitudes toward the devices and were able to successfully use them following brief instruction. The authors identified potential usability issues and discussed how findings can drive the future design of DHAs to better meet the home-based needs of an aging population. Read the full article by Travis Kadylak, Kenneth Blocker, Christopher Kovac, and Wendy Rogers.  

Emma Lachs recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Community Health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and now works as a project coordinator at the Human Factors & Aging Laboratory. With TechSAge, Emma helps oversee the R2 field trial, providing support for participant encounters, data collection and analysis, technical reporting, and instructional support materials review. Her research interests include early social emotional learning intervention for children with developmental disabilities and how technology can improve quality and accessibility of mental health care, especially for older adults. Emma comes from a large family (where she is one of eleven children!) and is currently developing a children’s picture book about emotions.