Amazon’s new Alexa Skills allow you to bring the sounds of your favourite days out, your daily routine and even your commute to your living room. Here’s how to use it.
The new Alexa commands – which are available on the Amazon Echo and any Alexa-powered smart speaker – invite users to recreate the atmospheres of their favourite places in their homes.
According to Pocket-lint, the sounds were picked based on a study of 2,000 people that found Brits missed the ambience of a busy restaurant or coffee shop, followed by the beach, the most over the past few months.
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How to recreate the sounds of your favourite locations with Alexa:
There are a handful of commands you can use to quickly and easily recall the sounds of your favourite places through your Echo. All you need to do is ask Alexa.
If you’re struggling to focus while working from home, simply say “Alexa, Open Office Sounds”, “Alexa, Open Library Sounds” or “Alexa, Play Café Sounds” to recreate the feel of your favourite productive environment.
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If you’re doing fine with your nine to five, but need a hand relaxing on the weekends say “Alexa, Open Seaside Sounds” or “Alexa, Play Farm Sounds” to transport yourself to the beach or nature. Alternatively, if you’re more about the journey, you can say “Alexa, Open Highway Sounds” or “Alexa, Open Airplane Ride” to recreate the sounds you’d hear while travelling.
If you’re missing the atmosphere of the football (and watching it on telly again isn’t enough) say “Alexa, Start Stadium Sounds” or “Alexa, Start My Applause” to summon the sounds of crowds cheering and sports fans making noise.
Right now, there are just nine sounds to choose from, but we hope to see Amazon add more in the future – especially as we’re beginning to forget what some places sound like.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
