MACCS:: an industrial study of hands-free wireless communications for mobile healthcare workers

ABSTRACT

In many work environments there is a growing component of employees whose job tasks require them to be mobile within their local workspace. Examples of these types of workers can be found in many service and industrial markets including healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. Our goal was to see if we could address the communications needs of these mobile workers by using a small, inexpensive, wearable, hands-free audio device (a wireless headset) along with a speech interface to an intelligent agent. The market segment that we chose to target was the healthcare industry because it is ripe for the introduction of new technology that can positively influence patient care. In this paper we describe the design, implementation and real-world deployment of our Mobile Access to Converged Communications System (MACCS) that empowers mobile workers with a hands-free voice interface to manage their communications.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.3 Communications Applications

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Input devices and strategies (e.g., mouse, touchscreen); Voice I/O; User-centered design
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces

  J. Computer Applications
  J.3 LIFE AND MEDICAL SCIENCES
  J.7 COMPUTERS IN OTHER SYSTEMS

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Human Factors

Keywords:
availability, bluetooth, context awareness, headset, healthcare, intelligent agent, local mobility, location, manufacturing, presence, retail, speech user interface, wireless