Update
This prototypical idea is now in much better shape at the new project Fleximinder here
Inspiration
Managers throw their to-do's and reminders at their secretaries and ask back for it. Can current technology afford to create (potentially limited) assistant of that sort? I believe so. The improved efficiency of natural language parsers and the advent of Alexa makes the time right to bring these techs together in an attempt to create a new way of managing to-do's through voice and natural language. Add my long standing fascination and fiddling with natural language applications, and this project was born.
What it does
FlexiMinder is an Alexa skill that provides you with a natural way to say and to ask back for your reminders (in English)
How I built it
Input from Alexa is sent to a natural language parser. The parse result is analyzed to extract meaning in some form. The representation of the original input is then stored in a database or, if it were a question, it will result in a query against same database.
Challenges I ran into
Extracting meaning from the parse result, storing it and querying it much easier imagined than done. Unfortunately, in spite of a lot of effort, a very small subset of English sentences are recognized.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
It kind of works!
What I learned
Introduction to current parsers, lots of English grammar and a hands-on experience with Docker containers
Current Status
Being submitted for certification
What's next
To allow more relaxed expressions.
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