It’s Only a Model
Starting with what was readily available around the studio and what folks had brought in from home, we divided into three strike-teams—Story, Tech, and Build—and were able to rough out a scale-model hospital room in diorama form in which we could ask the voice-agent (Alexa in this case) to raise or lower the angle of the bed, turn the room lights on or off, or page a nurse.
As we worked, we continually revisited our core premise—the marriage of inclusive design and connected smart devices has the power to significantly improve the quality and efficiency of patient care—to maintain our focus on what capabilities this diorama would contain and what values it would highlight: a patient’s control over their comfort, quality of their care, and connection to their loved ones. We also identified opportunities for empowerment and efficiency with hospital staff, addressing the needs and pains of our understaffed and overworked nurses.
A big part of our effort was around coding the interactions with Alexa, focusing on dialing in the proper “bedside manner” for our virtual caregiver — as we progressed, something interesting was happening to the team. As Alexa’s responses became friendlier and more human-esque, we noticed that we were all being nicer to her – saying “please” and “thank you” as a reflex. This solidified our belief that just as we use social graces and manners when speaking to each other, so, too, should we use them when speaking to an AI construct. We should also expect the AI to respond in-kind, saying “please”, “thank you” or “you’re welcome” when appropriate.