“Alexa, do this.” “Alexa, do that.” “Alexa, fulfil my every whim.”
The Amazon Echo is a relatively new gadget – a little over a year old in the US – but it’s already crept its way into every corner of our home lives.
From playing our every musical fancy to turning up our heating, and from checking our train times to ordering us a pizza, Alexa has quickly become our best electric mate and one that rarely lets us down.
When you ask Alexa to do something she’s not capable of though it’s jarring. Why can’t she work with that device or service? This just isn’t good enough. Our belief that we’re really living in the sci-fi inspired future is broken.
Although the Echo has impressed, there’s still much that it needs to learn. Yes, Alexa is getting smarter by the day, but the sooner she adds support for this lot, the better.
Picture the scene: you walk through the door, kick off your shoes and bellow ‘Alexa, turn on my TV’. Hey presto, sorted. The telly is on while you get a beer from the fridge, no fuss, no fanfare just a single, simple command.
Most TVs are connected to the internet now anyway, so there’s no reason why they can’t use those smart skills to play nice with Alexa and adhere to your every vocal command.
From webOS to Android TV, all the individual Smart TV platforms would need an Alexa-friendly patch, but once set-up you’d be able to quit your nightly remote hunts and just talk to your TV instead.
VR’s still in its infancy, and unless its user interfaces improve, it could stay there longer than it should. Holding your gaze on menu options to make selections is effective, but seriously slow and repetitive.
Stating “Alexa, ask Vive to launch Office Simulator” or “Alexa, ask Oculus to open my 360 Photos” as soon as you don your VR headset would speed up the whole process no end. It would also save the problem of mistaken button presses that come with controllers you cant see.
It would have another benefit too. VR can be a solitary, isolating experience, but talking to Alexa while in the virtual world could help make the whole thing more of a two-way experience. Slightly.
How has this not already happened? Skype seems an obvious way to communicate through Alexa, with the service’s VoIP calls capable of being triggered just by asking: “Alexa, ask Skype to call Olivia.
