Announcing the Alexa Skills Challenge: Beyond Voice Winners!
After months of hard work from Alexa developers around the world, we are excited excited to announce the Alexa Skills Challenge: Beyond Voice winners. In this challenge, we invited skill builders to create voice-first multimedia experiences that are immersive, entertaining and engaging using at least one of the following technologies: APL, APL for Audio (beta), motion and sensing APIs, or the Alexa Web API for Games. Last week we held our final judging event and determined the grand prize winner from the 10 finalists selected in addition to the six category bonus prizes.
“As a professional musician myself, I was inspired by the new APL for Audio capabilities provided by Amazon. The Mixer component offers the ability to play multiple simultaneous tracks, which inspired this project. I quickly realized that this new feature set would allow for a new field of tools that could greatly benefit musicians.“ - Mark Sean, Joy Jam
“I learned a lot more about APL. I've wanted to add APL for Audio to Math Mountain for a while now, but this competition was the motivation I needed to learn how. There is a lot of awesome documentation out there, and I have to say, there are some incredible people in the voice community that are doing some amazing things with APL. When I've needed help or advice, there is always someone more than happy to share their knowledge. It's incredible.” - Brandon Nourse, Math Mountain
Grand Prize Winner ($20,000 USD)
Voice Blast by Richard Matthews
The aim of the game is to guess celebrity voices as quickly as possible in a match of 5 questions against another player from around the world. Answer before the clip is over and get double points!
watch the submission video | try the skill
Bonus Prize - Best Food and Drink Skill ($2,000 USD)
Home Connect My Oven Assistant by Home Connect GmbH
The skill provides recommended oven settings for several dishes. For connected ovens with Home Connect, it checks all available heating mode and automatic program and provides an individual recommendation.
watch the submission video | try the skill
Bonus Prize - Best Kid Skill ($2,000 USD)
LEVOOBA by Kristin C. Daum, Sandra Noa and team
LEVOOBA Kids is a child-directed skill. With LEVOOBA Kids students can train their current school subjects at home. They virtually get together for multiplayer voice challenges - even if they don’t live in the same neighborhood. LEVOOBA turns students into players and classmates opponents.
watch the submission video | try the skill
Bonus Prize - Best Health & Fitness Skill ($2,000 USD)
The Happy Index by Chetan Damani, Vytas Kancleris, Raluca Dewald, & Francisco Torres.
Happy Index, is a simple mood tracker. We wanted you to be able to measure your progress, the more you use the skill the more you learn how to focus on giving your self some time to pause, smile and remember the great times in your life.
watch the submission video | try the skill
Bonus Prize - Best Education and Reference Skill ($2,000 USD)
Math Mountain by Brandon Nourse
The rules are fairly simple - answer 7 math questions correctly in a row to reach the summit of Math Mountain. The game starts off easy, and gets harder the higher you climb. If you get a question wrong, you can use a lifeline.
watch the submission video | try the skill
Bonus Prize - Best Game Skill ($2,000 USD)
The Werewolves Game by Clara Jiménez Recio
The Werewolves Game is an interactive and multiplayer audio game in which you will immerse yourself in a great adventure, diving into the game with Alexa using multiple images and sound effects thanks to features like APL and APLA.
watch the submission video | try the skill
Bonus Prize - Best Productivity Skill ($2,000 USD)
Joy Jam by Mark Sean
Joy Jam is a rehearsal tool for musicians, developed by a musician. It plays backing tracks which can be used to practice along with, or write new music.
watch the submission video | try the skill
Experience for yourself how developers all over the world used Alexa multimodal technology to create more immersive, entertaining, and engaging voice experiences.