‘Memories’ Wins Runner Ups Alexa Skills Challenge

Runner Ups (Best Overall)

Shannon Lynch

Marketing Manager

Rabbit & Pork are a Alexa Smart Properties Solution Provider, head over to our Alexa Smart Properties for Senior Living to find our more.

Rabbit & Pork are thrilled to be announced as Runner Ups (Best Overall) in the Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge: Aging & Engaging for their skill ‘Memories’.

Attending the awarding event in Arlington at Voice Summit 22 our MD John Campbell and Project Manager Christina Daskajiannis, both of who worked on the Skills creation along with Rabbit & Pork Developer Rikesh Balakrishnan, were proud to collect this accolade.

The Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge: Aging & Engaging, was an opportunity for entrants to build Alexa experiences that meet the needs, dreams and aspirations of adults aged 55 and older, within set categories. The category of ‘Memories’ was;

  • Let’s Connect – Connecting with friends and family brings joy, improves well-being and combats social isolation. Build a skill that connects users to friends, a peer group or family.
    Example: family news, friends night out, a joint activity

Inspiration For ‘Memories’

Our inspiration came from two aspects. Firstly, when my mum was organising old family photos to be digitally scanned and sending them over WhatsApp, three questions kept cropping up; when were the photos taken? Where were they taken? And who was in the photos? Photos contain memories and it’s important for people to be reminded of these memories.

Our second inspiration came from care homes and senior living properties using Alexa devices. Due to Covid restrictions or physical distances, it is sometimes not possible for family and friends to visit. Therefore, we wanted to create something which could be used at any time with input from loved ones to maintain that connection. Furthermore, and linking to our first inspiration point, our elderly loved ones often begin to experience memory loss, sometimes sadly dementia, and we feel this Alexa skill’s quiz prompt function, which you can read more on below, gives them a reminder of the memories they had

We felt that both aspects were ideal for the ‘Let’s Connect’ category.

 

What It Does

‘Memories’ allows friends and family members to upload pictures, video and audio content to an Alexa skill to be viewed by a loved one in a different location. At the same time, three key pieces of information are uploaded. ‘Where’ and ‘when’ the pictures or video were taken, and ‘who’ features in them. This uploading of information allows the user to have use of the quiz function with the Alexa skill after viewing the photos/ videos.

This gentle gamification element helps the end user be slowly reminded about the memories within the images/video uploaded. There is no scoring or winning element, as such as the aim is to help the user trigger their memory on key details about the pictures and video.

The audio element is a summary of what the friend or family member remembers and tells the end user a story about the photos/ video content.

We have also built a slideshow mode where there is no quiz element and the user can relax and view.

Alexa Runner Ups challenge

 

Read the full case study on ‘Memories’ here.

Shannon Lynch

Marketing Manager

Shannon has joined TIPi Group in October 2021 as Marketing Manager, overseeing and putting into action marketing aspects and projects for TIPi Group, as well as the brands within. Shannon started her marketing career in 2015, gaining experience in a range of elements from social media to print advertising and events. Passionate about marketing and what it can achieve, Shannon is excited to be part of the digital world and challenging herself to learn more!