Wearable Technology

Charlie! The Whenever, Wherever Assistant. 

Background

Spring 2017, I had the opportunity to design a wearable device. I looked externally at the latest technology, as well as internally with daily problems people with paralysis may have, as well as myself having physical limitations. 

Softwares: Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
Instructor: Jamie Cavanaugh

Inspiration

I'm always trying to make my life easier, with some kind of technology in mind, and along the way I will like to help others like me. I was inspired by intelligent personal assistants and how beneficial it might be for people with paralysis. 

I am extremely intrigued by the Alexa and Google Assistant, and how compatible they are with other smart home devices, like the Hue smart lights. Although these assistants already smart, they lack many functionalities for people with paralysis. These assistants lack remote control, precise understanding in speech impairment, and  individual productivity. I wanted to create a wearable that would help and assist people with paralysis in their everyday lives to aid in their independence.

Defining the Problem

Being independent when having paralysis is exceedingly important. With new advances in technology, i wanted to explore intuitive and more effective methods of artificial intelligence and eliminate people's dependency on visual Interfaces. Sure, there are several personal assistant as I mentioned earlier on the market, but they do not do justice. Upon further research, I was able to find out why.

Currently, personal assistants are not wearables, nor do hear or activate efficiently. These products exclude everyone who may have a physical disability and wish to do more on their own, like flipping the TV channels or opening doors.

Deeper Insights

The lack of movement (or not being able to do things for yourself) can be a temporary, situational, or permanent disability. To demonstrate this idea, I began role playing different scenarios:

• Temporary: People who are recovering from an accident or minor stroke.
• Situational: Multi tasking, having too much on their hands, like parenting.
• Permanent: People who are completely disabled like having as paralysis.

Any of these scenarios will have physical difficulty in doing what is needed or wanted. Regardless if there’s a physical difficulty or not, it would be nice to have a whenever, wherever personal assistant on hand, doing whatever it may be. Rather, traditionally jotting, writing, or imputing themselves.

Integrations

What if It wasn't conveniently possible to do what you needed, but our device would know how to assist whatever, whatever? I propose Charlie! -- a voice controlled wearable solely running on IoT cloud connections with an AI assistant, independent from other software and hardware technologies. Cloud based personalized assistant that does adjusts itself through smart learning. New hardware technologies can continue to grow with the cloud based personalized system.

Form + Function

The prototype earpiece shown above was used to explore how people might interact and communicate with the device. After explaining the concept, I asked a series of “How would you..” questions:

• How would you wake Charlie?
• How would you know if Charlie has heard you?
• How would Charlie let you know that your need/want was successful or not?
• In the case of a continuous dialog, how would you not wake Charlie every moment?

Their responses helped me create the earpiece's features to a set of interactions:

• Audible interface interactions simulating a natural human to deliver organization and effectiveness with triggers and feedbacks.
• Use trigger commands to wake or sleep Charlie!
• Gives feedbacks like “Yes!” "Done writing the grocery list." and “Okay!”
• In the case of a continuous dialog, incorporate sophisticated algorithms like "Hey, Charlie!" and "Thanks, Charlie!" to establish beginnings and an ends for a continuous dialog. 

The Optional App

The optional app provides a way to people through the onboarding process while also showing them how to maximize a device’s capabilities.In addition, the app allows people to set up many third party smart technologies. A concern among people I interviewed was how will they remember all their devices that are or are not connect. With the app, one can con view or add/remove devices. The use of the app also provides a way to visualize how to use smart devices in different ways other than the standards it provides.

Furthermore, the app will provide a way for users to utilize the earpiece's audible interface updates when news feeds are delivered. This feature is inspired to influence people to interact through inovative ways. For example,  changing Charlie's personality to suit the user's personality or adding a trigger like "Greetings Charlie!" Giving more personality and flexibility in vocabulary will give a special touch to the AI and its audible interface.

Conclusion

How may we apply what we know from UX and product design to create meaningful personal and useful wearables? Here’s my take, from my work on Charlie:

1. Incorporate Exclusiveness: Bring utility joy while narrowing the digital divide to give something not just exclusively, but inclusively as a wearable device the world needs.
2. Interactions should be innovative and intuitive: Voice command and audible interfaces are  delivered in an efficient way for anyone to be able to use. 
3. Wearables should be discrete: The wearable should be modern and styled to blend into a person's life. If the wearable is used everyday, then it should be as comfortable as possible for its success.

Read the full design process:

Charlie! Whenever, Wherever...