Amazon now lets you test drive Echo’s Alexa in your browser — from by Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Excerpt:

If you’ve ever wanted to try out the Amazon Echo before shelling out for one, you can now do just that right from your browser. Amazon has launched a dedicated website where you can try out an Echo simulation and put Alexa’s myriad of skills to the test.

 

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From DSC:
The use of the voice and gesture to communicate to some type of computing device or software program represent growing types of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).  With the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), personal assistants, and bots, we should expect to see more voice recognition services/capabilities baked into an increasing amount of products and solutions in the future.

Given these trends, personnel working within K-12 and higher ed need to start building their knowledgebases now so that we can begin offering more courses in the near future to help students build their skillsets.  Current user experience designers, interface designers, programmers, graphic designers, and others will also need to augment their skillsets.