Inspiration
To learn Alexa APL and implement it in a correct manner within a skill to provide true multimodal experience but keeping with voice first design. To design a skill that can be used as a vertical platform for similar locations/venues.
What it does
A quick and easy method of finding what 60 beers are on tap at The Daily Growler in Columbus, OH just by asking. Beers can be filtered by Style, Brewery, and Newest on tap. All beers are shown on Alexa devices with displays using The Daily Growler branding, and beers and queries are sent to Alexa mobile companion app. While this implementation is specific to this location in beer database and APL theme, the skill code is designed for a quick vertical market implementation and can be pointed to another location's database and a quick re-theming of the APL. The basic functions of retrieving and filtering a beer list will work for any location/venue.
How I built it
The skill code is built generic. It can and will be used for other venues. The lambda retrieves the current beer listing from an AirTable backend and caches the list into memory(session attributes) so that various filters can be applied. The skill is easily cloned for another venue and just needs pointed to a different database and some minor APL theming applied.
Challenges I ran into
Between caching the database into Alexa session attributes, APL documents, alexa card renderings I encountered the maximum limit for Alexa response. Had to trim down some of the data that I was caching and make some other changes to stay within limits.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Learning and incorporating APL in a true multi modal fashion without sacrificing voice first methodology.
What I learned
How to learn, test, and incorporate newly released features into a skill that is more efficient than its web or mobile counterparts. Designing and building skill code that can be generic and serve as a platform.
What's next for The Daily Growler
I am planning on marketing this as a vertical to similar locations/venues.
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