Amazon launches Alexa skill testing tool for developers

Amazon on Friday launched Alexa Test Simulator (Beta) tool for developers to optimise, test and improve their skills.

The new tool will add more features, including a visual display, new voice input capabilities and the ability to test multi-turn conversation, or conversation with multiple people, the company said in a statement.

Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon, first used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot devices.

The new updates will help developers improve their skills even if they do not have an Alexa device such as Echo, Echo Spot or Echo Dot smart speakers.

The updates follow other features introduced this year that enable developers to build more engaging and high-quality skills.

With the new voice input capability, developers can validate Alexa's understanding of the spoken word and how it responds.

The new device's event log shows the directives that are sent to the devices, which allows developers to understand how the skill interacts with the device.

The tool will be available globally and will support English (US), English (UK), English (Indian), English (Canadian), Japanese and German language models.

The company said that the visual display testing capability for Echo Spot smart speaker will be available next year.

--IANS

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