"Siri, is this you?": Understanding young children's interactions with voice input systems

Silvia Lovato, Anne Marie Piper

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

98 Scopus citations

Abstract

The increasing pervasiveness of voice input systems in consumer devices (e.g., Apple's iOS Siri) creates the potential for young children to use features and access content that previously required the ability to read and write. However, whether and how young children use voice input systems and associated voice agents on mainstream devices has not been studied in detail. This paper reports preliminary findings from an online survey with parents about children's use of voice input systems and a content analysis of YouTube videos depicting child interaction with one popular voice input system. Our results reveal three primary ways in which children use voice input systems: exploration, to understand and relate to the voice agent and for fun; information seeking, related to fact-finding questions and information about their surrounding environment; and functional, as a means of operating the device. While our results are preliminary, they highlight a variety of opportunities and challenges voice input systems present for children and parents.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of IDC 2015
Subtitle of host publicationThe 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages335-338
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781450335904
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 21 2015
Event14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, IDC 2015 - Boston, United States
Duration: Jun 21 2015Jun 24 2015

Publication series

NameProceedings of IDC 2015: The 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children

Other

Other14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, IDC 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBoston
Period6/21/156/24/15

Keywords

  • Children
  • Question asking
  • Speech recognition
  • Voice input

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Education
  • Software

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