Amazon’s Echo and Tesla’s cars have one thing in common – they’re both pretty cool. If you do happen to have both a Tesla and an Echo in your possession, or know anyone who has both of them, you’re in for a treat.
Software developer MOSAIC has been working on a way for Tesla drivers to use Amazon’s Echo device to interact with their cars. The result is a video that shows a Tesla Model S responding to voice commands offered up by the Echo’s Alexa assistant.
In a blog post, MOSAIC says that the new Alexa Skill for controlling a Tesla is currently being reviewed by Amazon, while also going into detail about how the whole thing ties together.
MOSAIC created a platform that is engineered to connect your smart devises to your voice. That platform is currently being connected to the Amazon Echo, as we work diligently with Amazon to publish it for Echo users. For the purposes of our Tesla test (and bragging rights), we created an Alexa Skill leveraging the AWS developer console and we deployed our code in an AWS Lambda function to support the communication with Tesla’s API. By linking our MOSAIC Alexa Skill with the Lambda function, and crafting the voice user interface, MOSAIC makes talking to your Tesla possible. Pure magic.
Having watched the video, there’s little doubt in our minds that speaking to Alexa and having a car unlock its doors, open the roof and even report its battery charge level is very cool, indeed.
Having computers in cars gives us the potential to do all manner of things, and voice control from afar using something like Amazon’s Echo and Alexa is one example of what is possible. It’s not a cheap game to get into, though, and we’re not suggesting everyone start saving for a Tesla right now. What it does do is give us hope for the future, though. Automobile technology has a way of starting out in high-end cars and then trickling down into the kind of automobile us mere mortals drive. With that in mind, how long before we’re telling Alexa, Siri or Cortana to make sure we locked the doors on our mid-range Ford Focus?
(Source: MOSAIC [Medium])
You may also like to check out:
- Amazon Echo Can Now Read Kindle Books To You
- Video: Apple Watch Remotely Controlling Tesla Model S Car
- Watch Tesla Model S Drive Itself With The Company’s New ‘Summon’ Feature [Video]
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