Building Applications for Amazon's Alexa Platform

Ben NorthropDistinguished Technical Consultant

Summa

Follow Alongbennorthrop.com/alexa

github.com/throp/mathwhiz

About Me

● Oldish guy who still writes code● Full stack developer● Not an expert in voice technology

– Recently deployed Alexa skill for retail client

– Worked for voice technology company prior

Disclaimer

Agenda

1. Intro to Alexa2. Desiging Voice UIs3. Building "Skills" with Java

1. Intro to Alexa

What is Alexa?

● Voice driven, virtual personal assistant● Delivered via Echo, Dot, Tap, or Show● Cloud-based● Offers skills from third-party developers

What can it do?

● Read the news, stories, facts...● Look up recipes, weather, TV guide...● Play music, podcasts, background noise...● Order a pizza, uber, doll house...● Control lights, thermostat, TV remote...● Quiz you on trivia, vocabulary, math...

Popular Skills

Skills, Skills, and More Skills

In November 2016, a total of 5 million Amazon Echos, Dots, and Taps had been sold. In 6

months that number almost doubled.

Alexa Sales

Exciting things in the News

Voice Catching On

Major Limitations

● No voice recognition● Unable to push messages or notifications *● No coordination between multiple devices● Unable to record voice● Continuous interaction needed -->

Other Concerns

● Not as sticky as apps on other platforms● No clear way to monetize yet ● Less natural interaction or conversation

– Who does the “heavy lifting”?

User Developer

<------------------------------------->

or

Crossed the Chasm?

2. Designing Voice User Interfaces

The Domain of Alexa

New Skill: “Math Whiz”

Skill

● Can be one of three types:– Smart home ---------------------------->

– Flash briefing -------------------------->

– Custom ---------------------------------->

● Activated via an invocation name – “math whiz”

● Defined in a given language

Intent

An intent represents an action that fulfills a user’s spoken request.

Intent Schema

Utterance

The words people say to interact with your skill.

Slot Type

● Number– “three”, “one oh four”, “nine eight nine”

● Date– “may 4th”, “today”, “next week”, “this winter”

● Duration– “ten minutes”, “three days”, “seven years”

● Time– “noon”, “six am”, “two fifteen pm”

● List Type– airline, city, country, animal, artist, person, organization, etc.

Alexa Console

User Interface

3. Building Alexa Skills with Java

Architecture

JSON Request

Java Speechlet Framework

Speechlet

SpeechletRequestStreamHandler

Maven

Hosting Options

● Amazon– Beanstalk

– Lamda

● Web Service

Amazon Lamda

Testing

Account Linking

Other Features

● Session● Audio● Built-in Intents

Demo and

Questions?