TIMELINE Known simply as Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant technology is largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. Here, we look at how the technology has developed over the years. ANNOUNCING ALEXA In late 2014, Amazon announced Alexa alongside its new Echo device. Alexa was inspired by the computer voice and conversational system on board the Starship Enterprise in science fiction TV series and movies, beginning with Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
COLLECTING DATA TO PERFECT ALEXA’S TECHNOLOGY Amazon partnered with rental home company Appen in 2013 to collect more data. Amazon filled rooms with Echo devices and temporary contract workers were then paid to walk through the rooms, reading scripted openended questions from tablets. This generated data for Amazon to use and feed back into Alexa to improve its response capabilities.
2014
2013
THE FIRST PITCH First conceptualised in 2011, Jeff Bezos pitched the first Amazon Echo device, which he wanted to be controlled completely by voice. However, Amazon Executive, Dave Limp, upon seeing the pitch, was doubtful and recalled thinking: “This is going to be hard. It foretold a magical experience. But it would require a lot of inventions.”
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April 2022
