Inspiration
The original Star Trek captain's log
What it does
Allows the user to record, edit, search by date, search by word or short phrase, and stores all log entries in a Google sheet for easy access.
How I built it
Using the Jovo Alexa Skill Framework, Node.js, and a lot of custom dialog mapping plus Google API for reading and writing to Google sheets, I created a skill that works as planned.
Challenges I ran into
The time out cycle for Alexa responses was a bit tricky, so I had to add a sound effect to let the user know when they had completed a sub-segment of the current log entry.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
By having the entries broken up into segments when recording, it allowed for the user to navigate the sub-segments and delete any they chose not to keep. I used one set of navigation but different modes to handle whether in edit mode or search/find mode to page through the entries.
What I learned
Alexa often has trouble distinguishing phrases that contain date/time information if you have slots that detect date/time phrase for other purposes. Specific commands are a trouble too if you are also capturing RAW phrases. I used dynamic dialog slots to overcome this issue.
What's next for Starship Captain's Log 2020
As the computer on Star Trek used to say, "Working..."
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