Sheetal K. Agarwal

A pervasive computing system for the operating room of the future

We describe a prototype context aware perioperative information system to capture and interpret data in an operating room of the future. The captured data is used to construct the context of the surgical procedure and detect medically significant events. Such events, and other state information, are used to automatically construct an electronic medical encounter record (EMR). The EMR records and correlates significant medical data and video streams with an inferred higher-level event model of the surgery. Information from sensors such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags provides basic context information including the presence of medical staff, devices, instruments and medication in the operating room (OR). Patient monitoring systems and sensors such as pulse oximeters and anesthesia machines provide continuous streams of physiological data. These low level data streams are processed to generate higher-level primitive events, such as a nurse entering the OR. A hierarchical knowledge-based event detection system correlates primitive events, patient data and workflow data to infer high-level events, such as the onset of anesthesia. The resulting EMR provides medical staff with a permanent record of the surgery that can be used for subsequent evaluation and training. The system can also be used to detect potentially significant errors. It seeks to automate some of the tasks done by nursing staff today that detracts from their ability to attend to the patient.

WWTW: the world wide telecom web

The World Wide Web (WWW) enabled quick and easy information dissemination and brought about fundamental changes to various aspects of our lives. However, a very large number of people, mostly in developing regions, are still untouched by this revolution. Compared to PCs, the primary access mechanism to WWW, mobile phones have made a phenomenal penetration into this population segment. Low cost of ownership, the simple user interface consisting of a small keyboard, limited menu and voice-based access contribute to the success of mobile phones with the less literate. However, apart from basic voice communication, these people are not being able to exploit the benefits of information and services available to WWW users. In this paper, we present the World Wide Telecom Web (WWTW) --- our vision of a voice-driven ecosystem parallel to that of the WWW. WWTW is a network of interconnected voice sites that are voice driven applications created by users and hosted in the network. It has the potential to enable the underprivileged population to become a part of the next generation converged networked world. We present a whole gamut of existing technology enablers for our vision as well as present research directions and open challenges that need to be solved to not only realize a WWTW but also to enable the two Webs to cross leverage each other.

A comparative study of speech and dialed input voice interfaces in rural India

In this paper we present a study comparing speech and dialed input voice user interfaces for farmers in Gujarat, India. We ran a controlled, between-subjects experiment with 45 participants. We found that the task completion rates were significantly higher with dialed input, particularly for subjects under age 30 and those with less than an eighth grade education. Additionally, participants using dialed input demonstrated a significantly greater performance improvement from the first to final task, and reported less difficulty providing input to the system.

Content creation and dissemination by-and-for users in rural areas

83% of the world population does not have access to Internet. Therefore there is a need for a simple and affordable interaction technology that can enable easy content creation and dissemination for this population. In this paper, we present the design, development and usage pattern of a VoiKiosk system that provides a voice-based kiosk solution for people in rural areas. This system is accessible by phone and thus meets the affordability and low literacy requirements. We present usability results gathered from usage by more than 900 villagers during four month of the on-field deployment of the system. The on-field experiments suggest the importance of locally created content in their own language for this population. The system provides interesting insights about the manner in which this community can create and manage information. Based on the use of the system in the four months, the VoiKiosk also suggests a mechanism to enable social networking for the rural population.

VOISERV: Creation and Delivery of Converged Services through Voice for Emerging Economies

WWW has made information accessible to computer users in various ways not imagined before. However; there is a huge pool ofpeople, especially in emerging economies, still untouched by this revolution and are either unaware of, or are unable or to join this bandwagon. Mobile phones are increasingly empowering the under-privileged to utilize data and services beyond the basic voice communication. However; factors such as high illiteracy rate, cost sensitivity, and user interface issues prevent these users from deriving benefits of available infrastructure and services. We have developed a novel system ¿ VOISERV that enables ordinary telephone subscribers to create, deploy and offer their own customized voice-driven applications called Voic-eSites. The generated VoiceSites get hosted in the network for low cost of ownership and maintenance, and are integrated with advanced services available in the converged networks of today.

Organizing the unorganized - employing IT to empower the under-privileged

Various sectors in developing countries are typically dominated by the presence of a large number of small and micro-businesses that operate in an informal, unorganized manner. Many of these are single person run micro-businesses and cannot afford to buy and maintain their own IT infrastructure. For others, easy availability of cheap labour provides a convenient alternative even though it results in inefficiency, as little or no records are maintained, and only manual, paper-based processes are followed. This results in high response times for customers, no formal accountability and higher charges. For the businesses this translates to lower earnings and losses due to inefficiencies. In this paper, we look at few such micro-business segments and explore their current models of operation, while identifying existing inefficiencies and pain points. We build upon the findings and propose an approach for delivering benefits of IT solutions to such micro-business segments. Finally, we present technology that realizes the proposed approach in the specific context of two such segments.

HSTP: hyperspeech transfer protocol

HTTP provides a mechanism to connect web sites. Almost all sites have a large amount of hypertext content that provides connection to other sites in the World Wide Web. The success of the WWW can be partly attributed to the seamlessly browsable web that is formed through this connectivity. However, navigation of hypermedia content through non-visual interfaces has not received as much attention. Specifically, telephony voice applications offer immense usability and penetration benefits and can act as alternate information access and delivery mechanisms. Connectivity across voice applications poses interesting and novel challenges. In this paper, we define Hyperspeech as a voice fragment in a voice application that is a hyperlink to a voice fragment in another voice application. Further, we present Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol (HSTP) - a protocol to seamlessly connect telephony voice applications. HSTP enables the users to browse across voice applications by navigating the Hyperspeech content in a voice application. HSTP can also be used for developing cross-enterprise applications that allow a user to transact across two or more voice applications.

The world wide telecom web browser

As the number of telephony voice applications grow, there will be a need for a browser to surf the Web of interconnected voice applications (called as VoiceSites). These VoiceSites are accessed through a telephone over an audio channel. We present the concept and architecture of T-Web Browser, a World Wide Telecom Web browser that enables browsing the Web of voice applications through an ordinary phone. This browser will support rich browsing features such as history and bookmarking.

The spoken web: a web for the underprivileged

Spoken Web proposes to build an alternate web for the underprivileged population that is yet untouched by the enormous benefits of Internet and World Wide Web. Just over 22% of Worlds population today has access to Internet [Stats 2008]. The remaining 78% either cannot afford computers or high end mobiles, or are textually illiterate or simply reside in areas where basic infrastructure (such as electricity) is not available.

VoiKiosk: increasing reachability of kiosks in developing regions

One of the several initiatives to bridge the digital divide in developing countries has been the deployment of information kiosks or knowledge centers in villages in rural parts of the country. These kiosks provide services ranging from email, chat and browsing to distance education programs, agricultural services and eGovernance services. A kiosk typically comprises of a computer with printer, web cam, multimedia system and Internet connectivity and is owned by a local entrepreneur. Moving away from the PC based kiosk model, we present an alternative platform to create and host such information kiosks in the telephony network. We call these as VoiKiosks and they are accessible through voice interaction over an ordinary phone call.