Intelligent Virtual Assistant

A software-based agent that uses artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and speech recognition to understand and respond to human voice or text commands. Intelligent Virtual Assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri are embedded in smart speakers, phones, and wearable devices. For accessibility, IVAs offer a hands-free and eyes-free interaction paradigm that can benefit older adults, people with motor impairments, and people with visual disabilities, though challenges remain around speech recognition accuracy, device setup complexity, and privacy concerns.