What is a skill?
- A skill is an app stored and executed on Amazon servers, accessed by customers using voice commands and natural language.
Ease of Access
- Voice user interfaces (VUIs) are natural, conversational, and user-centric.
- VUIs are rich and flexible.
- The easier a skill is to use, the faster and more efficient the experience.
Speed and Efficiency
- Voice commands can be faster than using a keyboard or touchscreen.
Skill Monetization
- Skills can support existing businesses.
Alexa Skill Kit Workflow
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Step 1: User says a command using natural language. The Alexa device records it and sends it to the cloud.
Example: “Alexa, open android dev skills”
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Step 2: In the cloud, the voice command is processed through Automatic Speech Recognition to convert it into text. Then, Natural Language Understanding converts the text into JSON.
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Step 3: The JSON is sent to the appropriate AWS host, which contains the skill (Lambda Function) that manages the request.
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Step 4: The skill (Lambda Function) processes the request and produces a response in JSON format, which is sent back to the Alexa cloud.
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Step 5: In the cloud, the response can be converted into text and then into a voice reply, or sent to the Alexa device for a visual response.
Prebuilt and Custom Skills
- Amazon provides prebuilt skills for Alexa and compatible devices:
- Smart Home
- Flash Briefing
- Video Skill Kit
- Music Skill Kit
- Meeting Skill Kit
- For other functionalities, you can create custom skills.
Video Skill Kit
- Video Skill Kit focuses on video experience and includes:
- Search and play content
- Playback controls
- Volume controls
- Turn a device on or off
- Change the input video device
- Launch an app
- Record video content
- Video catalog ingestion
Conclusion
The Video Skill Kit interfaces use a pre-built voice interaction model and are more robust than custom skills. Alexa is aware of devices and services through these interfaces, while custom skills must be invoked by name.
It is always better to use a pre-built skill when available and develop a custom skill only if needed.
Whenever possible, use a pre-built skill. Develop a custom skill only when necessary.