Alexa and the Art of the Possible
Specially curated DIY projects that excite me about the future of Alexa and her integration in our lives
I love building Alexa skills, and I’m fortunate to have fallen in with a community of makers that share my passion for smart home innovation. When I’m not coding, I’m usually browsing the thousands of projects shared on sites like Hackster and Codemade. There are some truly innovative projects out there and I’m excited to see what new things are being thought of and prototyped.
Here are a few that I’ve taken special interest in:
Voice Controlled Smart Home
There are a glut of smart lighting options available— many good, some great (like the @Lutron Caseta and Philips Hue systems). Unfortunately, I have yet to come across a great solution for lamps. Most smart lamp integration requires either a smart bulb or a smart switch/dimmer (plugged into the outlet). That works fine, unless someone turns off the light using the lamp switch (rendering the smart switch or smart bulb useless).
What I really want is a lamp that can be controlled by voice and touch, without the need for a “bolt-on” smart bulb or switch. GE is in the process of rolling out an Alexa-integrated smart lamp. I could wait for that, or just build my own — leveraging the Voice Controlled Smart Home project built by Md. Khairul Alam and Umme Nur Mafiha Majid.
Smart Alarm Clock
My bedside nightstand is a tangle of cords and cables (connected to a lamp, an Echo Dot, an alarm clock, and a charger for my phone). I need a way to consolidate devices; maybe Nick Triantafillou’s Time Machine can make a difference. His project marries Alexa functionality with an alarm clock (housed in a very “clean” 3D-printed case).
Working Together As a Team & Automated Chess Play
Here are two Hackster projects that could be merged together to make something special: Alexas Working Together As a Team and Automated Chess Play using Alexa.
Both projects are cool by themselves, but imagine them together: two users, in different locations, using Alexa to play chess (with boards in each location that automatically move the pieces).
Roxie the Voice Activated Pitching Machine
Terren Peterson’s Alexa powered Roxie Voice Activated Pitching Machine was a game changer for me. I remember telling my wife: “I can’t believe someone built a [bleeping] pitching machine”.
I was awestruck; not because of the pitching machine itself, but because of what it represented. It was a true picture of the art of the possible. If that could be built, what else could be imagined? A smart gutter cleaner? A smart compost system?
More Projects
These are just a few of the projects that excite me about the future of Alexa and her integration in our lives. Check out the Alexa community of developers on Hackster for more innovative projects.
Darian Johnson is a technology consultant with deep experience implementing complex software architectures and leading large-scale software delivery programs. He currently works for Accenture as a member of their Amazon Web Services practice.
Darian has always enjoyed researching new technologies, so he eagerly used the tools and templates provided by the Alexa team to learn about skill development. His first skill combined his passion for fitness with his interest in machine learning. His Mystic Mirror skill won second place in Alexa’s Internet of Voice challenge on Hackster.io.
