| Sumario: | Purpose Commercial voice controlled personal assistants - so-called smart speakers, e. g. Amazon Echo/Google Home - have gained increasing attention within the field of gerontechnology. Studies have investigated different aspects, e.g. technology acceptance of smart speakers (Koon et al., 2020), reasons for (non-)use (Trajkova/Martin-Hammond, 2020), ontological perceptions of smart speakers (Pradhan et al., 2019), privacy concerns (Bonilla/Martin-Hammond, 2020), and domestication of such devices (Nimrod/Edan, 2021). Most of these studies report results of technology deployment projects with instructed use and lack a perspective on the domestication of smart speakers in old age. This paper aims to explore perspectives of older smart speaker users on their real-world domestication processes of smart speakers to understand how older users negotiate(d) the appropriation, meaning and (non)-use of smart speakers and its contents/applications within their individual socio-technical contexts, i. e. life-worlds. Therefore, this case study analyzes seven empirical cases to reconstruct/understand the perspective of users on the emergence of real-world ageing-smart-speaker relations and to investigate possible implications of smart speaker use, e. g. the co-constitution of usage practices, subjectivities, values (Peine/Neven, 2020). Method Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted, two via telephone and five via online video conference. Following a theoretical sampling approach participants had to be aged 60+ and own/use commercial domestic smart speakers for at least four months. Participants were recruited through member organisations of a digital initiative (Digital-Kompass) of the German National Association of Senior Citizens' Organisations (BAGSO) and signed informed consent to participate. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed via content analysis, using an inductive-deductive coding approach. Results and Discussion Results show that smart speakers can have multiple effects in life-worlds of older adults, i. e. change/create new daily routines, values (e. g. attitudes towards privacy), self-perceptions (e. g. being a part of the modern world). Usage practices range from using smart speakers for entertainment or information, using applications to compensate physical limitations or improve one's well-being, to organizing care/communication with elderly parents during the pandemic.
|