Vitro: Designing a Voice Assistant for the Scientific Lab Workplace

This paper investigates whether voice assistants can play a useful role in the specialized work-life of the knowledge worker (in a biology lab). It is motivated both by promising advances in voice-input technology, and a long-standing vision in the community to augment scientific processes with voice-based agents. Through a reflection on our design process and a limited but fully functional prototype, Vitro, we find that scientists wanted a voice-enabled device that acted not a lab assistant, but lab equipment. Second, we discovered that such a device would need to be deeply embedded in the physical and social space in which it served scientists. Finally, we discovered that scientists preferred a device that supported their practice of "careful deviation" from protocols in their lab work. Through this research, we contribute implications for the design of voice-enabled systems in workplace settings.