A chatbot (also known as a talkbot, chatterbot, Bot, IM bot, interactive agent, or Artificial Conversational Entity)The classic historic early chatbots are ELIZA (1966) and PARRY (1972).More recent notable programs include A.L.I.C.E., Jabberwacky and D.U.D.E (Agence Nationale de la Recherche and CNRS 2006). While ELIZA and PARRY were used exclusively to simulate typed conversation, many chatbots now include functional features such as games and web searching abilities. In 1984, a book called The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed was published, allegedly written by the chatbot Racter (though the program as released would not have been capable of doing so). One pertinent field of AI research is natural language processing. Usually, weak AI fields employ specialized software or programming languages created specifically for the narrow function required. For example, A.L.I.C.E. uses a markup language called AIML, which is specific to its function as a conversational agent, and has since been adopted by various other developers of, so called, Alicebots. Nevertheless, A.L.I.C.E. is still purely based on pattern matching techniques without any reasoning capabilities, the same technique ELIZA was using back in 1966. This is not strong AI, which would require sapience and logical reasoning abilities. Jabberwacky learns new responses and context based on real-time user interactions, rather than being driven from a static database. Some more recent chatbots also combine real-time learning with evolutionary algorithms that optimise their ability to communicate based on each conversation held. Still, there is currently no general purpose conversational artificial intelligence, and some software developers focus on the practical aspect, information retrieval. Chatbot competitions focus on the Turing test or more specific goals. Two such annual contests are the Loebner Prize and The Chatterbox Challenge (offline since 2015, materials can still be found from web archives). According to Forrester (2015), AI will replace 16 percent of American jobs by the end of the decade.Chatbots have been used in applications such as customer service, sales and product education. However, a study conducted by Narrative Science in 2015 found that 80 percent of their respondents believe AI improves worker performance and creates jobs.[citation needed] is a computer program or an artificial intelligence which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner, thereby passing the Turing test. Chatbots are typically used in dialog systems for various practical purposes including customer service or information acquisition. Some chatterbots use sophisticated natural language processing systems, but many simpler systems scan for keywords within the input, then pull a reply with the most matching keywords, or the most similar wording pattern, from a database. The term "ChatterBot" was originally coined by Michael Mauldin (creator of the first Verbot, Julia) in 1994 to describe these conversational programs.Today, most chatbots are either accessed via virtual assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, via messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger or WeChat, or via individual organizations' apps and websites. Chatbots can be classified into usage categories such as conversational commerce (e-commerce via chat), analytics, communication, customer support, design, developer tools, education, entertainment, finance, food, games, health, HR, marketing, news, personal, productivity, shopping, social, sports, travel and utilities. Background

An example Alexa Skill project using the alexa-app module with Express.

Example of using Spring Boot to build Alexa Skills app

Example Amazon Alexa Skill for the Echo, written using alexa-app.

Visual impairment can pose a challenge to accomplish everyday activities such as driving, reading, and walking. People with visual impairment experience their surroundings uniquely when compared to a sighted person. They have more active senses (touch, smell, sound, and taste) to learn about their surrounding but activity as easy as reading a book or detecting objects in front without touching seems impossible for them. Drishti (meaning "vision" in the Hindi language) is designed to describe this beautiful world to the visually impaired. Drishti helps to read the text in front of the user, and it also conveys the environment around the visually impaired, by describing the objects and relationship b/w the objects. Examples are a 'person sitting on a bench,' 'a dog is sleeping,' 'a stop sign on the road'. On users command the image is captured with a camera connected to the raspberry pi. If the user wants text description of the image, the image is analysed by Google's Cloud Vision API using Optical Character Recognition to detect the characters, letters in the picture, and if the user wants the scene description of the nearby environment, the image is sent to the Microsoft Cognitive Services to analyse the image using Computer Vision. Generated result is stored in the Dynamo DB (Cloud database). When the user asks Alexa to 'Read the text' or 'Explain the environment', the Alexa Skill Kit triggers AWS Lambda Function to fetch the results from the database (Dynamo Db). The Alexa app then recites the stored result on the user's mobile. This innovative device, designed to serve the visually impaired, is handy, easy to use with high accuracy.

Amazon announced a new device called the Glow during its fall product launch event, a $250 video chatting gadget that allows children to virtually interact with loved ones by playing games and reading books together. Although the company has been selling the Echo Dot Kids Edition for years, it's rare for Amazon to develop an entirely new device designed specifically for children. While it's new for Amazon, the general concept behind Glow might sound familiar -- especially if you've ever used the storytelling app Caribu or the Osmo brand of educational tablet accessories. That's because although they're different products, they share a lot of underlying qualities with Amazon's Glow. Caribu is designed to help kids play games and read stories with relatives remotely through an interactive video chatting platform, and Osmo is all about incorporating real-world game pieces into educational games you can play on a tablet. Read more: Amazon unwraps privacy features as it tries to roll deeper into your home To understand the similarities, it's important to know how the Glow works. Amazon Glow is an Alexa-free video chatting device that consists of an 8-inch upright display, a camera with a built-in shutter and a projector. The device isn't available to the public yet and can only be obtained via invitation since it's part of the company's Day 1 Editions program. The basic premise behind the Glow is simple. Children can video chat with relatives and loved ones on the device's screen, while a projector conjures up a virtual play area for games and activities that's displayed on a silicone mat in front of them. The person on the other end of the call can participate in that game or puzzle on their tablet through the Glow app.The activities are also designed to combine real-world elements with digital ones. For example, in a demo video on Amazon's website, kids can be seen arranging physical game tiles, drawing pictures with their finger on the play mat and moving digital puzzle pieces on the mat -- all while a grandparent or aunt on the other end cheers them on. The device will come with a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids Plus and will feature content from Disney, Sesame Street, Barbie, Pixar and Hot Wheels. The Caribu app is built on a similar concept, but with a different execution: It's an app with the same goal, not a purpose-built device. Caribu is meant to make the video calling experience more interactive by enabling children and loved ones to share experiences like bedtime stories, coloring sheets and games virtually. It's essentially like a Zoom for kids that's available on iOS, Android and the web, but with built-in activities. The app has been around since 2016, but grew in popularity throughout the pandemic as relatives looked for ways to connect with little ones they couldn't see in person. Maxeme Tuchman, Caribu's CEO and co-founder, doesn't seem bothered by Amazon's entry into the space. "What I can say is that Caribu obviously identified a problem in the market, started a trend, and now everyone wants in," Tuchman said in a statement.Osmo, on the other hand, is more about turning your tablet into an interactive device for educational games and activities rather than social interaction. Osmo's system involves slotting a compatible tablet into a base that enables it to stand upright in portrait mode. You would then place a red reflector piece over the device's camera. This reflector enables the tablet to detect physical game pieces so that these real-world elements can be incorporated into the game on screen. Games designed for the Osmo cover a range of skills, including coding, literacy, critical thinking, drawing, math and science. Certain Osmo bundles are priced similarly to the Amazon Glow, but the starter kit -- which includes the base, reflector, and four games aimed at children ages 3 to 5 -- costs just $79. Read more: Always Home Cam: Amazon's flying Ring drone might be tricky to get your hands on Like Caribu, Osmo isn't an apples-to-apples competitor to Amazon Glow. Amazon seems focused on the technology while it relies on big-name partners for most of the content, unlike Osmo. And Osmo is centered on solo playtime and learning, rather than shared experiences. There are also some fundamental differences in how the products work. Osmo doesn't project images onto a nearby surface like the Glow. Instead it uses the reflector to send an image of game pieces or a child's drawing to the tablet's camera so it can be incorporated into the game. Amazon also specifically mentions that the Glow itself isn't a toy, despite its similarity to products that are considered to be part of the toy market.Still, the core appeal of both products comes down to combining an on-screen experience with real-world play elements. As is the case with Caribu, the concepts are just carried out in different ways. Similar to Tuchman, Osmo co-creator Pramod Sharma didn't express concern about increased competition from Amazon. "We're excited to see Amazon join the play movement we started with Osmo over seven years ago," Sharma said via email. Amazon's device also isn't the first experimental computing device to rely on a projector as a central part of the interaction. You might remember HP's Sprout Windows 8 all-in-one PC from 2014, which projected a second screen onto a 20-inch touch sensitive mat situated in front of the computer for drawing and other creative work. It's easy to understand why Amazon would develop a product like the Glow at a time like this. The pandemic has normalized remote learning and fueled interest in connecting with family members virtually. At the same time, technology is playing a bigger role in the global market for educational toys, which is expected to grow from $19.2 billion in 2020 to $31.62 billion by 2026, according to Arziton Advisory and Intelligence. Toys that use augmented reality to overlay digital graphics on real-world objects will likely boost the demand for learning toys year-over-year, says the report.Tech companies are also increasingly tailoring their products to appeal to younger audiences. Facebook offers a version of its Messenger chat app for children, and the company has been building a version of Instagram for kids, too. (Those plans were recently put on hold following backlash over the concerns that come with exposing younger age groups to social media.) Apple launched parental controls for the iPhone in 2019 and released Swift Playgrounds in 2016, a game aimed at teaching children how to code in Apple's Swift programming language. It's too soon to know whether the Amazon Glow will be a success. Amazon's Day 1 Editions program is meant to provide access to new products before they're ready for prime time, meaning they may not be ready for widespread release. Not all products in the program make it past the Day 1 Editions phase either. The Echo Loop, an Alexa-powered smart ring, never graduated from Day 1 Editions to become a real product, for example.We'll have to wait until we've tried Amazon's new child-friendly gadget to know how it stacks up against existing products.

An example Voice app - Alexa Skill and Google Action for getting updates from alexdunn.org

Alexa Skills / Lambda / Groovy example Super Hero Quiz App

COVID has certainly changed the dynamics of the IT industry. As a businessman, one needs to cohere to the latest UI UX trends. UI/UX trends are altered based on the varying taste of the user. A user visits thousands of websites every day and as a businessman, everyone is trying to grab the attention of the visitor. Standing out from the competitors is hard to crack nowadays. The online platform that grabs the attention is the one that scores the game. A good design surely adds value and makes your customers visit you again. Though, the design is changing all the time. Each year, UI trends change, new features are introduced, and out-dated versions lose their way. So, you need to stay updated and keep your business up to date as well. In this article, we study the latest UI/UX trends that help you in your business growth. So let's dive into What is UI/UX? UI/UX is becoming a popular term and it’s also becoming better known in the industry. UX or User Experience essentially understands the customer their needs and designing an experience for the customer according to that which covers various aspects such as tech, such as understanding needs, what they see, what they experience with all their senses is what user experience is all about. A user experience with your site is known as User Experience. A UX/UI Designer is responsible for creating user-friendly interfaces and helps the clients to better understand the use of technological products UI or user interface is one part of the user experience, it’s one of the touch points the customer interfaces with, that is what they see and that’s what they touch now there is on touch devices or if it’s a computer then it’s something that you use online but that interface that communicated the brand or the service to the customer is the user interface and because that is a very important way or the very useful way to communicate with the customer, it plays a huge role in the communication of the service or the product to the customer. User Experience/ User Interface Design Trends Minimalism If we talk in terms of Design, then less is always more, a golden rule of website design. Limiting the number of colors, trying different proportions and compositions are good. It's because an average user sees many discount ads and gets constant notifications and the designer always try to simplify the way they present information. Simplified UX Avoid inserting extra steps which users found non-mandatory. Try to minimize the elements. Now the latest UX is Simplified registration and sign-in. Users don't want to remember extra passwords, so making use of their phone number as a password is a bit simplified. If you can omit unnecessary steps, do it. If you can omit some fields in the form, do it. Blurred, colorful background User Interface design helps to make the website more stylish, elegant, and eye-soothing. In earlier use, 2-3 colors in linear gradients were in trend but now it goes up to 10. In short, an overlay is trending now. However, you need to be careful while playing with the gradients. Neomorphism Neomorphism is gaining popularity because of its subtle yet original appearance that merges skeuomorphism with flat design. At present, the main purpose of products is to produce different user interface items utilizing geomorphic. Unique and absurd 2D illustrations 2D illustrations contribute to several aspects of design in production, including Environment design, Prop design, PreVis design, drawers, clean-up, rotations, and color design. Illustrations stay on top of user interface trends. It is getting fancier with time. The picture quality is in SVG format because like other formats such as PNG, GIF, and JPEG the picture quality is damaged when we increase the screen resolution and this is not the issue in SVG format. Because the vector format can be increased and decreased with no loss in quality. (VUI )Voice User Interface Users may use voice commands to engage with a UI or to talk. A voice-activated interface prevents consumers from using the interface. UX design teams compete with the latest upgrades and advances in this industry more than ever before. VUI is widely used in apps for translation. It hears in your language and translates into the language you want. ALEXA, SIRI is the best example of a voice user interface. With VUI you can easily communicate with people who do not know your language. Mobile-first approach Never ignore mobile accessibility as almost a 5.27billion people use a mobile phone and the chances of using social media platforms are 90%. So what if you ignore mobile visibility and more focus on the desktop appearance of your website? In this case, you lose a large amount of audience from your end. So always use the mobile approach in mind and create and design your website accordingly. Icons Icons are generally visually expressing objects, actions, and ideas. To communicate with the user we need different UI/UX. There are different picture representations of icons that are visually appealing. Conveying meaning in less space and creative ways is more powerful. Choose icons from the same family as they are the same size. It is also vital to understand that not all UX design trends are required for a product or website. The usefulness could only be complicated. We would rather keep up with the trends and only use them if they match the needs of your users and are likely to be working for your company. Synopsis: In 2021, design is something less complicated, more diverse, delightful, and satisfactory. Make sure you adhere to all these trends for reaching out to the million customers out there. Hope these trends are helpful for you to know where we stand in UI/UX nowadays. UI/UX design is to help users achieve their goals. Always ensure the design is relevant and valuable for consumers.

An example implementation of an Alexa Skills Kit app. As a challenge to myself, created in less than 3 hours.

Sample alexa akills for using Express + alexa-app

An Alexa Echo Btn game app example

Plays Andy Hofle's Arcade Ambiance sounds on Alexa, an example of a Flask-ask app for Amazon Alexa

Example Rails app with Slack-bot, Alexa (Amazon Echo), and Root Insurance integration

Example Alexa app

Example Alexa Workout App

Example Alexa App using Wikipedia

No description available

example amazon alexa app with alexa skill kit (ASK) development using alexa-sdk to debug on visual studio code

An example flask alexa app that reads freeform variable text inputs.

Example Alexa Ruby/Sinatra app that logs your movement (movement is mocked at the moment)

An Amazon Alexa app that gives the user a nerdy pickup line when asked. It is based on the Space Facts example program and was my first Amazon Alexa App.

Users can connect many smart devices with their Alexa Amazon App and Echo. For example thermostats, smart lights, cameras connected to Alexa, Robot vacuums. Alexa App will control all these devices like a home automation system. You just have to give a voice command only to Alexa for performing such tasks.

Users can connect many smart devices with their Alexa Amazon App and Echo. For example thermostats, smart lights, cameras connected to Alexa, Robot vacuums. Alexa App will control all these devices like a home automation system. You just have to give a voice command only to Alexa for performing such tasks.

AWS- Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon. In this repo, you will find an high level explanation of how you could develop your custom built Alexa app with an example.

Help us to open some basic app and tab for example VS code and Google by taking input in form of human voice . Just like Alexa .

A custom Alexa skills app that assists in the learning of vocabulary by providing definitions and prompting the user to guess the word. It is in the form of an interactive game, where the user can request clues, which are synonyms, antonyms, examples of the word, part of speech, number of letters in the word, and what letters the word starts and ends with.