There are millions of customers with more than one Alexa-enabled device in their home, and for these customers one of the most important features we’ve built is Echo Spatial Perception (ESP). The ESP feature provides a frustration-free experience by identifying the best device to respond when interacting with Alexa in a multi-device environment. The technology determines which device is closest to the customer, and helps Alexa respond through that device.

ESP was first introduced to the Echo family of devices. As the number of Alexa-enabled devices grew, we began to expand the feature to third-party device makers. Prior implementations of ESP required device integration with additional software, and the feature wasn’t implemented on every Alexa-enabled device.

Today we’re announcing that ESP has moved to the cloud, introducing several benefits to developers. With Cloud ESP, all existing and new Alexa-enabled devices get the ESP feature with no requirement for device-side software changes. Cloud ESP also offers superior accuracy – even in noisy environments – and because Alexa is always getting smarter, the feature will continue to improve over time. 

“Alexa continues to become increasingly integrated with people’s lives as she is enabled across more devices from a range of manufacturers,” said Priya Abani, director of Amazon Alexa. “By automatically enabling all devices to take advantage of ESP, customers are given the best experience with Alexa across the growing number of devices and Alexa-enabled experiences.”

Alexa continues to expand to new countries, regions, and device types. As the number of Alexa-enabled devices grows, customers will increasingly bring these voice-forward products into their homes. ESP ensures that customers enjoy their Alexa experience from the very first utterance.

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AVS makes it easy to integrate Alexa directly into your products and bring voice-forward experiences to customers. Through AVS, you can add a new natural user interface to your products and offer your customers access to a growing number of Alexa features, smart home integrations, and skills. Get Started.