Alexa and the Connected Car

Emily Lam

Alexa Conference Jan. 19-21, 2017

Emily Lam• Studied Linguistics and

specialized in Computing at UCLA

• Front-end Developer at Lieberman Software

• Won the Worldpay prize at Money 20/20

• 2nd place at Connected Car hackathon

Agenda What is a Connected Car? Hyundai & Ford Alexa Skill

Automobility LA & CES 2017

Create an Alexa skill using the Mojio API RoadBuddy Troubleshooting bugs Voice user interface

The state of Artificial Intelligence Future of the connected car Privacy

What is a Connected Car?A car that uses technology to gather information, analyze data, and perform tasks.

What data can you get?SpeedCar’s GPS location Motion alertsGeofencingRecent trip history

So how does Alexa work witha connected car?

Hyundai Blue Link SkillAlexa is embedded in the car itself and can do anything an Echo can.

What can Alexa do?Features:

Remote start and stop charging electric modelsRemote engine start with climate controlRemote door lock/unlockRemote horn/lights

Ford SYNC 3The Ford SYNC 3 has an Alexa skill called “myFord Mobile”.

Alexa is located under Apps > Alexa.

The Ford Skill bridges the gap between your home and car.

UtterancesAlexa,ask myFord to check my battery status.ask myFord to start my car.ask myFord to lock my car.turn on living room lights.set home thermostat to 72 degrees.turn on garage lights.

The key takeaway is that you are able to stay connected to your car when you’re at home, and you’re able to stay connected to your home when you’re in your car.

So now let’s build our own skill for the connected car.

Mojio API

Mojio Platform

Mojio collects data from the OBD-II port and sends it to the Mojio server.

RoadBuddyRoadBuddy is a connected car platform that

delivers automated real-time road conditions.

For the Alexa skill, you can also report incidents and get road conditions.

RoadBuddy Intent Schema"intents": [ { "intent": "GetReportIntent", "slots": [ { "name": "Incident", "type": "LIST_OF_INCIDENTS" }] },

{ "intent": "GetRoadConditionsIntent", "slots": [ { "name": "Incident", "type": "LIST_OF_INCIDENTS" }] },

Sample Utterances GetReportIntent report an {Incident} GetReportIntent report a {Incident} GetReportIntent report that {Incident} GetReportIntent report that there's {Incident} GetReportIntent there's {Incident} GetReportIntent {Incident} GetRoadConditionsIntent what are road conditions like GetRoadConditionsIntent what are road conditions up ahead GetRoadConditionsIntent road conditions GetRoadConditionsIntent tell me road conditions

Account LinkingAuthorization URLThe url where customers will be redirected in the

companion app to enter login credentials.Ex. https://accounts.moj.io/oauth2/authorize?

response_type=codeClient IdUnique public string used to identify the client

requesting for authentication.

Domain List (Optional)The list of domains that the authorization URL will

fetch content from. You can provide up to 15 domains.

Scope (Optional)List of permissions to request from the skill user.

You can provide up to 15 scopes.

Redirect URLs (Optional)The list of valid HTTPS redirection endpoints that

could be requested during authorization to redirect the user back to after the authorization process.

Authorization Grant Type (Optional)Specifies the OAuth authorization grant that Alexa

uses to obtain an access token from Mojio.

Access Token URIThis URI will be used for both access token and

token refresh requests.Ex. https://accounts.moj.io/oauth2/token

Client SecretGiven by Mojio

Client Authentication SchemeHTTP Basic or Credentials in request body

Privacy Policy URLhttps://www.moj.io/privacy/

Configure a Mojio object with the following key/value pairs.

Call the function before you register the handlers.

Create a variable outside of the handlers object and set it equal to this to avoid getting a null error.

Use mojio_client to get data.

Use self.emit for Alexa to say something.

• Get data from lambda request.

State of Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligence was coined by John McCarthy in

1956.

Defining Artificial IntelligenceThe ability to learn and solve problemsThink like a human (How a brain functions, cognitive

science)Act like a human (Turing test)Think rationally (Using logical formulas)Act rationally (Design intelligent systems to maximize

goals)

Alexa and AIAlexa has the ability to learn and solve problems. Can Alexa think like a human? No. It is optimized

to perform complex tasks and cannot multi-task.Can Alexa act like a human? Not so much but it

can sing and show signs of humor.Can Alexa think rationally? Yes. It can apply

algorithms and functions. Can Alexa act rationally? Yes. Ex. It can figure out

the nearest pizza place and buy items from Amazon.

State of Artificial IntelligenceNeeds to be more conversational More data = better machine learning

The Future of the Connected CarMore skills, more integrations.

Ex. Volkswagen will be integrating with Alexa7000+ skills on the Alexa app

“Consumers increasingly want to stay connected to their homes while on the move”

-  Don Butler, Connected Vehicle and Services executive director of Ford

Self-driving cars

Have cars talk to one anotherEx. One car experiences black ice on the road and

other cars are alerted to avoid that area.

Be more efficient

Predict safer routes

Have better car maintenance

Amazon delivery to car trunks with help of AlexaArticle by Tylor Orton:https

://www.biv.com/article/2017/1/pop-your-trunk-amazon-has-delivery/

“Eventually we’ll be able to pop [your] trunk and allow Amazon to deliver packages securely there, which will make it more convenient for the customers and a lot more efficient for Amazon to deliver to cars even faster.” – Kenny Hawk, Mojio CEO

Privacy concernsAmazon’s Echo & Dot are always onRecords your voice after wake word and transfers

it to a processor for analysisInformation is stored on Amazon’s serversCan delete your data

Murder in ArkansasVictor Collins was killed and his body was found in

his friend’s hot tub. There was an Amazon Echo near the crime scene. Law enforcement agents asked Amazon to turn over the audio and other records but they refused.

http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/amazon-alexa-recordings-requested-by-police-in-murder-case.html

Can Alexa be used against you?The issue of using speech recordings as evidence

Ultimately, we must find a balance between privacy and convenience. And in the end, Alexa is an incredibly powerful tool and will continue to advance the field of artificial intelligence.

Resourceshttps://developer.amazon.comhttps://aws.amazon.comhttps://www.moj.io/developer/

Questions? Twitter: hongilyEmail: elam@liebsoft.comWebsite: www.liebsoft.com