Where-onica
Humans, as social animals depend on human interaction at every step of our lives. A huge part of this is the experience one has during this interaction and the implications or impact of that. The millennials are a generation known to long for experiences, whether they satisfy this need by climbing mountains or by simply sitting under the stars, it is clear that we give a great deal of importance to processes and not just the outcome. Thus how an event unwraps itself, or the experience it brings with it is important.
When it comes to digital or technological experiences, an interface or a screen is a useful tool used to lead way for interactions and tasks. Today, in the world of wifi, GPS, and instant replies and solutions, we are used to speed. Our human interactions are also more than often dependent on this speed. We don’t wait around for letters to be delivered or people to travel. Our work doesn’t stop, we get information when we want it, pay bills instantly, make calls instantly, it is the world of instant gratification that never stops for anyone. This is the level of efficiency that us and the generations to come are used to. Can a human be so efficient ?
Like any other solution, technology too brings with it a problem. It starves humans of real life experiences and human interactions. With the coming of AI we can find a middle ground and fix this problem.The emergence of a chatbot is a boon that allows achieving human-like experiences combined with the efficiency of a machine. They can handle huge amounts of data, process information quickly and give instant results.
Being a part of this world, the current process of locating a faculty in Srishti is outdated and quite frustrating. More than often, work gets delayed, people get stressed, grades get affected, all because this system is not in place. Srishti is a college with more than one campus and its faculty’s have varied interests and backgrounds. There is more than one staff room where they sit and the allotment of faculty spaces to them is not based on a system that students are aware of. This entire scenario makes locating a faculty an arduous task. Running from one floor to the other, looking for friendly faces to ask for help, the entire process is built on your luck and chance. Sometimes while looking for a faculty you don’t even know how they look and that adds another barrier to ones task. A chatbot intervening can help this entire process function more systematically and efficiently.
Like Siri, providing users an experience of having conversations with real-life human assistants to ease their task is the goal here. ‘Where-onica’ will be your go to buddy to locate any faculty in Srishti. In today’s world, we are used to speed, which is why such a task can be best attained by a technological intervention. It is more efficient; more organised and can easily connect people. A human might wander away in the middle of their duty but such is not the case with technology. Moreover, a machine can handle the abundance of data and make easy changes with the click of a button. The best part is that one can be at ease when interacting and leave behind all inhibitions.
‘Where-onica’ will get things done faster, letting students and visitors know the whereabouts of faculty and other staff members during college hours and also helping them decide who to approach for which issue.
To ensure that the experience is human like, ‘Where-onica’ talks aloud. Yet keeping in mind that one might need to read the information if it is a lot or might have trouble with accents in case of exchange students, she also replies by typing. A number of these devices could be placed on each floor and accessing it will require you to scan your id card, so that she knows who you are, can make you feel comfortable and send you further details or contact you if required. A version of this will be available to download for the faculty so that they get real time information and ca make real time changes with minimum effort. ‘Where-onica’ will help you with email ids , appointments , tell you how a faculty looks, when they have class, what faculty space they sit in, and a little information about them. She can also play a game with you and chat with you while you wait for a faculty or show you the location of a particular room on campus.
At the start of every cycle, the data base should ideally be updated, this will say which faculty has class on which day, in which slot (AM/PM) and in which class and campus. In addition to this any faculty can update the information for any specific day. They can also make their new location only visible to a particular group of people, like people who are maybe in a class with them in the current cycle. Any student can show their ID card and ‘Where-onica’ will know who he/she is. Taking into account that a faculty is not always available in their faculty space, a student can ask for his/her email id or ask for an appointment to meet with them. A faculty may if they like tell ‘Where-onica’ about a meeting and the information will be provided to a student if he/she comes looking for them. The decision to share any decision other then ones classroom and faculty space lies solely on the faculty. Also since a faculty might not want to share his/her number with a student, ‘Where-onica’ can be the intermediate to help with appointments, In the event of their being a long wait time, a student can play games with ‘Where-onica’. Being a little girl, she knows how to play simple games like Rock,paper,scissors. This can also be a stress buster for the otherwise busy student.
‘Where-onica’ is capable to helping a student decide who he/she should meet for a particular issue. If there is a major specific concern, information or guidance required, she can provide a student/faculty with names of faculty and their background, she can show you their picture and knows credits related issues go to Manjari/Mary, CCA issues to Nawaz, and emotional concerns to wellness. ‘Where-onica’ knows about all staff members of Srishti, not just the faculty.
The initial feedback received was quite positive, students have struggled with locating faculty in Srishti and they wanted ‘Where-onica’ to come to effect immediately. One common issue which came from faculty was privacy concerns, they didn’t want people knowing where they are, which is why their is no GPS used. For any faculty open to this, tracking which faculty is on campus and which isn’t would we very useful by tracking their attendance. The receptionist already tries to provide the students with this information when they ask for it but letting a chatbot do it would just make it more efficient. The screens in the initial experiment were dull and very machine like, so the newer version is more inviting and has a better name.
Our prototype was far too structured with standard questions and answers. This makes it apparent that it is not a human and a human interaction always brings with it an element of difference or surprise. I tried to do that with the coded prototype where the bot tries to answer differently. Further the ‘Where-onica’ was required to be more futuristic. She guided the conversation through out the prototype, thus the new coded version allows the human to be himself/herself and start or end the conversation as they wish. The receptionist, who currently party helps with this job was asked what kind of questions she gets. Further, mapping out different scenarios and role playing methods helped cover all possibilities.
‘Where-onica’ can surely be a part of Srishti who could greatly help both students and faculty. I feel once it is a working model, a lot of new features ca be added and older can be improved upon depending on the kind of interactions people have. What people expect it to do should be delivered. A talking, staff locating chat bot that can provide information on staff members and their whereabouts while also booking appointments and providing email ids can greatly benefit the N5 environment. Further, it goes with the kind of free space that Srishti has where people are open to approach any staff member for help and guidance. Locating the faculty will no longer be a barrier thrown in your way when you want to connect. Simply go over to ‘Where-onica’ and she will guide you.
