SPAM – A Process Model for Developing Smart Personal Assistants

Information technology capabilities are growing at an impressive pace and increasingly overstrain the cognitive abilities of users. User assistance systems such as online manuals try to help the user in handling these systems. However, there is strong evidence that traditional user assistance systems are not as effective as intended. With the rise of smart personal assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa, user assistance systems are becoming more sophisticated by offering a higher degree of interaction and intelligence. This study proposes a process model to develop Smart Personal Assistants. Using a design science research approach, we first gather requirements from Smart Personal Assistant designers and theory, and later evaluate the process model with developing an Amazon Alexa Skill for a Smart Home system. This paper contributes to the existing user assistance literature by offering a new process model on how to design Smart Personal Assistants for intelligent systems

Driving Sustainably – The Influence of IoT-based Eco-Feedback on Driving Behavior

One starting point to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions is driving behavior. Previous studies have already shown that eco-feedback leads to reduced fuel consumption. However, less has been done to investigate how driving behavior is affected by eco-feedback. Yet, understanding driving behavior is important to target personalized recommendations towards re-duced fuel consumption. In this paper, we investigate a real-world data set from an IoT-based smart vehicle service. We first extract seven distinct factors that characterize driving behavior from data of 5,676 users. Second, we derive initial hypotheses on how eco-feedback may affect these factors. Third, we test these hypotheses with data of another 495 users receiving eco-feedback. Results suggest that eco-feedback, for instance, reduces hard acceleration maneuvers while interestingly speed is not affected. Our contribution extends the understanding of measuring driving behavior using IoT-based data. Furthermore, we contribute to a better understanding of the effect of eco-feedback on driving behavior

Classifying Smart Personal Assistants: An Empirical Cluster Analysis

The digital age has yielded systems that increasingly reduce the complexity of our everyday lives. As such, smart personal assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri combine the comfort of intuitive natural language interaction with the utility of personalized and situation-dependent information and service provision. However, research on SPAs is becoming increasingly complex and opaque. To reduce complexity, this paper introduces a classification system for SPAs. Based on a systematic literature review, a cluster analysis reveals five SPA archetypes: Adaptive Voice (Vision) Assistants, Chatbot Assistants, Embodied Virtual Assistants, Passive Pervasive Assistants, and Natural Conversation Assistants

The Role of Smart Personal Assistant for improving personal Healthcare

Machine learning is a subfield of computer science that evolved from the study of pattern recognition and computational learning theory in artificial intelligence. The focus of this paper is to improve personal healthcare using smart personal assistant which make use of the combination of machine learning and cloud. Making a doctor appointment through phone call is a tedious process and it may take more time. People who did not made the prior appointment have to wait on the queue which sometimes leads to dissatisfactions to the patients. To overcome this gap, smart personal assistant application is proposed using which users can get appointment of various doctors according to the current availability and at anytime and anywhere. This will improve time saving from patients' side as well as they will be satisfied by timely service