Exploring the hands-free experience

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I have finally joined the ranks of those using the Alexa Echo Dot smart speaker. I’m glad that I have made the transition. They have been around since 2014, and I have given them as gifts, but this is my first.

I am guessing that most folks have already heard of “Alexa” technology. Amazon claims that approximately 25% of American households use the technology. For the non-gadget-inclined, Amazon Echo is a smart speaker that can be controlled by voice and connects to the voice-controlled personal assistant service, Alexa. Alexa can perform various interactive tasks drawing from the internet and operate a wide variety of “smart” products.

My wife loved hers when I gave it to her several Christmases ago. She used it as an alarm clock, for weather reports on demand, to listen to music, and the occasional trivia quiz. My purchase was bundled with one of those “smart” lightbulbs, which she also enjoys. It turns lights off and on with voice commands, but the old infomercial “clapper” could do that. Unlike the clapper, she can tell the light what color to be or at what specific time to turn it off or on. That’s snazzy.

Seeing that it was a hit, I sent one to my Dad’s wife. She is a dentist by trade but pursues a wide variety of hobbies that also require two hands. I envisioned her being able to turn things on and off with hands occupied, but the new technology wasn’t welcomed. Some people just don’t need more gizmos in their lives.

OK, but the spouse still likes hers, so Santa brought her the video version for this most recent Christmas–the Echo “Show.” It has a small touchscreen that kicks the game up a notch, adding a display of the time, weather, calendar, etc, as well as camera feeds and videos. She’s still plumbing the depths of that one, but it left a hand-me-down that I was told I was free to use.

Initially, I paid no interest, but Amazon has recently launched a campaign to demonstrate how hands-free technology can be used as an assistive device for people with disabilities. I have an interest in that area and wanted to see what was possible first-hand, so I plugged it in and paired it with my phone.

With my new-to-me, older-generation Echo installed, I went through the essential functions as most people do (fast facts, checking the weather, setting alarms). I also used the “find my phone” function, which is beautifully uncomplicated. I just say, “Alexa, where’s my phone?” and it rings. If I can figure out how to do that with my keys and glasses, I could save an hour or two every year.

Those are the basics, but the possibilities are limited by the user and the roughly 100,000 available “skills,” which are third-party audio applications designed to work on the Echo. Most fall under the categories of information (recipes, directions, news), communications (phone calls, intercom with other devices, medical alert), interactive (games, language translators, shopping lists), and remote control of smart devices.

The function I am most interested in (and least equipped) is the remote device control. We have played with the light bulbs, but Alexa wall plugs are relatively inexpensive, adding on/off voice commands for any gadget around the house that plugs into a standard 110-volt wall outlet. There are also many “smart” appliances that are now available, including refrigerators, ovens, robot vacuum cleaners, and smart locks.

There are, of course, drawbacks–not the least of which is security. We crossed that bridge when we first used a baby monitor 25 years ago. It’s like planting a bug in your own house, but it’s not the next-door neighbor with a scanner anymore. Security measures are built-in and constantly updated, but it’s a significant concern.

Also, as one who seeks international and specialized news sources, I am not yet impressed. I have been unable, so far, to generate anything other than main-stream network newscasts. I’m going to keep working on that, and have high hopes for combining text-to-speech capabilities and language translators.

Like all technologies, we learn how to use them over time, and the vendors learn better ways to serve us. The promise of AI is that the “machine” is learning too. That comes with downsides too, but I continue to look up.