2017: Nadia: Conversations without Boundaries @ W3C Perth

From 2017.

This is the first time in more than twenty years that the W3C Conference has been held in Australia. The conference took place in Perth Australian, 5-6 April 2017.

As the Head of the NDIS Technology Authority, I presented the story of Nadia, the first AI powered digital human for service delivery, co-designed with people with disability. The presentation was accompanied by the release of accompanying videos and research.

Synopsis of Presentation

This is the case study of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the co-creation and breakthrough thinking driven by people with disability and the disability community. 

The structured world of structured websites, structured forms, structured channels and structured bureaucratic language are barriers to people with disability in accessing information and services. These are barriers for everyone.

The structured world has been about forcing people to adapt to fit in with these structures, channels and technology. In the cognitive era, the interface, the language, the channel and the technology adapts to the person. 

This is the story of Nadia – a cognitively intelligent emotionally responsive human realistic virtual assistant co-created by people with disability. 

One clear goal – to achieve a natural conversation regardless of ability or language.