Microsoft Researching Ways to Help Illiterate Use Computers

Microsoft, in coordination with a local advocacy group, has developed a prototype of a system that could possibly connect illiterate domestic workers in India with families seeking their services. Pictures, video and voice commands are used to tell women what jobs are available, how much they pay and where they are.

The intention is to show the women how technology could make the process of finding work more efficient. It is the first step towards helping illiterate people benefit from technological advances.

The software was displayed at the Microsoft Research TechFest, an annual gathering of employees from the various research and development centers. Researchers located in China, India, England and the US, provide the company a mix of far-flung technology with more practical applications.

Researchers in the project have had to overcome preconceptions about how the technology should work and why people would want to use it. Kentaro Toyama, a researcher overseeing the project felt that understanding what computer images would actually make sense to the domestic workers, was the first big hurdle.

For example, a photograph of dirty dishes would make the women think that those were the actual dishes they had to wash. However a realistic cartoon, with water running over the dishes, worked better.

Similarly, the women preferred associating places with landmarks, rather than addresses. Thus, an interactive map and verbal directions had to be created.

Despite extensive revisions, researchers found that the women failed to understand how the computerized system was better than the traditional word-of-mouth for finding work.

Eventually, the researchers created a video based on popular “Bollywood” movies that showed a woman complaining that she needed another job and then using a computer to find it. This worked. 

Presently researchers are trying to find ways to implement the system, as such women do not normally own computers. One suggestion according to Toyama, is setting up a kiosk in a community center.

Raj Reddy, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, also working on ways to get illiterate people to use computers, says his early research in rural Indian villages had shown a divide between what people think rural residents expect of technology and what they really want.

For example, Mr. Reddy said, “If you give someone in a remote area a telephone, car or television, you’ll get nothing but gratitude.”

Instead, if offered a PC, they would not understand what it is. “That’s the problem I am trying to solve. I am trying to say, ‘This is not a PC. This is an appliance which can take on many forms,’” he says.

People in rural India with few literacy skills will, according to Mr. Reddy be initially interested in using a computer to do familiar tasks. They might want to talk to their family using videoconferencing or even watch videos using computers.

He hopes to take them forward from there. Perhaps make them aware that a computer can also help them order farming supplies or avail medical care for their sick child.

Mr. Reddy, who is also part of Microsoft’s technology advisory board, feels Microsoft’s approach of using cartoon-like images may be ahead of its time. However, he supports the company’s efforts in a field yet to win the recognition it deserves.

Source: Post Gazette