VOLI

According to the latest US Census Bureau predictions, by 2035 older people are projected to outnumber children for the first time in US history. This brings significant societal challenges based on their unique living and health-related conditions stemming from reduced sensory, motor, and cognitive capabilities, as well as multiple chronic conditions.

Technology can play a pivotal role in meeting the needs of older adults in ways that preserve their independence. Voice represents a natural choice for interaction between an aging individual and their caregivers, social networks, and healthcare providers, and it becomes key for those with visual or mobility impairment.

We are working on a personalized and context-aware voice-based digital assistant to improve the quality of life and the healthcare of older adults, and consequently, to reduce caregiving burden and optimize the interactions with healthcare and service providers. We strive for innovations in natural language understanding, deep learning, and human-computer interfaces that leverage information from EHRs, clinical ontologies, and novel patient-level terminologies to support among others the clinical use case of detecting symptom changes and medication side effects.