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  • February 17, 2017
  • By Leonard Klie Editor, Speech Technology and CRM magazines
  • FYI

OVERHEARD UNDERHEARD

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Amazon’s Alexa voice service is letting some Las Vegas visitors experience our smart-home future in the comfort of their hotel rooms.

Through a deal announced in December, Wynn Las Vegas will add Amazon Echo, Amazon’s hands-free voice-controlled speaker, to all 4,748 of its hotel rooms, enabling guests to control all of the smart home features in their rooms with a series of voice commands via the Alexa Voice Service.

The Wynn first installed the Amazon technology in its suites, and Alexa is expected to be fully operational in all guest rooms by the summer. Hotel guests will initially be able to use it to control the lights, temperature, drapes, and television in their rooms. As the project evolves, other features, such as personal assistant functions, will be introduced.

“As we have moved through the years, technology has always played an important part in our resorts,” said Steve Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, in a statement. “The thing that Amazon has done with Alexa is quite perfect. If I have ever seen anything in my 49 years of developing resorts that has made our job of delivering a perfect experience to our guests easier and help us get to another level, it is Alexa. The ability to talk to your room is effortlessly convenient.”

So maybe Star Trek wasn’t as science fiction as we once thought. Can a universal translator be far behind?

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