Design and build innovative, custom, data-driven Alexa skills for home or business. Working through several projects, this book teaches you how to build Alexa skills and integrate them with online APIs. If you have basic Python skills, this book will show you how to build data-driven Alexa skills. You will learn to use data to give your Alexa skills dynamic intelligence, in-depth knowledge, and the ability to remember. Data-Driven Alexa Skills takes a step-by-step approach to skill development. You will begin by configuring simple skills in the Alexa Skill Builder Console. Then you will develop advanced custom skills that use several Alexa Skill Development Kit features to integrate with lambda functions, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Internet data feeds. These advanced skills enable you to link user accounts, query and store data using a NoSQL database, and access real estate listings and stock prices via web APIs. What You Will Learn Set up and configure your development environment properly the first time Build Alexa skills quickly and efficiently using Agile tools and techniques Create a variety of data-driven Alexa skills for home and business Access data from web applications and Internet data sources via their APIs Test with unit-testing frameworks throughout the development life cycle Manage and query your data using the DynamoDb NoSQL database engines Who This Book Is For Developers who wish to go beyond Hello World and build complex, data-driven applications on Amazon's Alexa platform; developers who want to learn how to use Lambda functions, the Alexa Skills SDK, Alexa Presentation Language, and Alexa Conversations; developers interested in integrating with public APIs such as real estate listings and stock market prices. Readers will need to have basic Python skills.

This is a book for developers, who not only want to learn how to develop software for Alexa but also want to make money with Alexa. Want to start a side business or a SaaS startup? Just as in the early days of mobile, when fortunes were made with mobile apps on the app store, it is now the perfect time to catch the opportunities offered by voice apps. Amazon Alexa, the voice platform with the broadest adoption, helps developers like you and me, to develop, distribute, market and monetize their Alexa Skills on the Amazon Alexa Store. Want to develop and program Alexa Skills? In this book, you learn step-by-step how to create your first Alexa Skill with the Alexa Developer Console, AWS Lambda, the Alexa CLI, and node.js with the Alexa SDK. Want to scale and grow your Alexa Software Startup? You get a deep-dive into the various ways of making money with Alexa. You learn about the business models for Alexa Skills, marketing and monetizing your Alexa Skill on and off the Alexa Store, opportunities for offering in-skill purchases, and about programming the various purchase and payment flows. Want to build advanced Alexa Skills that users love? The book covers many advanced features of Alexa in plain English, such as account linking, audio streaming, session management and much more. You learn how to personalize your Skill with the user's data and linking the Skill to popular cloud apps, such as Spotify, Google and many more. This will help you create unique apps that stand out on the market and improve the lives of many Alexa users.

Unlock the power of voice technology with "Mastering Alexa Skills Development: Building Custom Experiences with AWS Lambda", the ultimate guide to creating dynamic and engaging Alexa skills. Whether you're just starting out or an experienced developer looking to sharpen your skills, this book offers a thorough, step-by-step approach to mastering every aspect of Alexa skills development. From setting up your environment and designing seamless voice interfaces to securing your applications and optimizing their performance, you'll gain valuable insights into the best practices for using AWS Lambda. Learn how to integrate external APIs, manage state efficiently, and confidently handle testing, debugging, and publishing your skills. With a straightforward and practical approach, "Mastering Alexa Skills Development" empowers you to innovate in the ever-evolving world of voice technology, ensuring your creations stand out in the Alexa Skills Store. Elevate user experiences and bring your voice applications to life with this comprehensive guide.

This book will help you to discover important AWS services such as S3 and DyanmoDB. Gain practical experience building end-to-end application workflows using NodeJS and AWS Lambda for your Alexa Skills Kit. You will be able to build conversational interfaces using voice or text and deploy them to platforms like Alexa, Facebook Messenger and Slack.

The book Digital Health Transformation with Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence covers the global digital revolution in the field of healthcare sector. The population has been overcoming the COVID-19 period; therefore, we need to establish intelligent digital healthcare systems using various emerging technologies like Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. Internet of Medical Things is the technological revolution that has included the element of "smartness" in the healthcare industry and also identifying, monitoring, and informing service providers about the patient’s clinical information with faster delivery of care services. This book highlights the important issues i.e. (a) How Internet of things can be integrated with the healthcare ecosystem for better diagnostics, monitoring, and treatment of the patients, (b) Artificial Intelligence for predictive and preventive healthcare systems, (c) Blockchain for managing healthcare data to provide transparency, security, and distributed storage, and (d) Effective remote diagnostics and telemedicine approach for developing smart care. The book encompasses chapters belong to the blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and Big health data technologies. Features: Blockchain and internet of things in healthcare systems Secure Digital Health Data Management in Internet of Things Public Perception towards AI-Driven Healthcare Security, privacy issues and challenges in adoption of smart digital healthcare Big data analytics and Internet of things in the pandemic era Clinical challenges for digital health revolution Artificial intelligence for advanced healthcare Future Trajectory of Healthcare with Artificial Intelligence 9 Parkinson disease pre-diagnosis using smart technologies Emerging technologies to combat the COVID-19 Machine Learning and Internet of Things in Digital Health Transformation Effective Remote Healthcare and Telemedicine Approaches Legal implication of blockchain technology in public health This Book on "Digital Health Transformation with Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence" aims at promoting and facilitating exchanges of research knowledge and findings across different disciplines on the design and investigation of secured healthcare data analytics. It can also be used as a textbook for a Masters course in security and biomedical engineering. This book will also present new methods for the medical data analytics, blockchain technology, and diagnosis of different diseases to improve the quality of life in general, and better integration into digital healthcare.

The rise of metaverse technologies has had a critical impact on the modern world. Due to the recent popularity of this technology, it is important to understand the strategies, opportunities, and challenges contained in the metaverse world in order to appropriately utilize it across fields. Strategies and Opportunities for Technology in the Metaverse World explores the opportunities and challenges facing the metaverse and considers the strategies and opportunities of metaverse technologies in various industries and countries. Covering a range of topics such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and machine learning, this reference work is ideal for computer scientists, researchers, scholars, policymakers, academicians, practitioners, educators, and students.

With its unique focus on video game engines, the data-driven architectures of game development and play, this innovative textbook examines the impact of software on everyday life and explores the rise of engine-driven culture. Through a series of case studies, Eric Freedman lays out a clear methodology for studying the game development pipeline, and uses the video game engine as a pathway for media scholars and practitioners to navigate the complex terrain of software practice. Examining several distinct software ecosystems that include the proprietary efforts of Amazon, Apple, Capcom, Epic Games and Unity Technologies, and the unique ways that game engines are used in non-game industries, Freedman illustrates why engines matter. The studies bind together designers and players, speak to the labors of the game industry, value the work of both global and regional developers, and establish critical connection points between software and society. Freedman has crafted a much-needed entry point for students new to code, and a research resource for scholars and teachers working in media industries, game development and new media.

This book presents ten essays that examine the potential of digital responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The essays explore new digital concepts for learning and teaching, provide an overview of organizational responses to the crisis through digital technologies, and examine digital solutions developed to manage the crisis. Scientists from many disciplines work together in the fight against the virus and its numerous consequences. This book explores how information systems researchers can contribute to these global efforts. The book will be of interest to researchers and scholars in the field of digital business and education.

In today’s market, emerging technologies are continually assisting in common workplace practices as companies and organizations search for innovative ways to solve modern issues that arise. Prevalent applications including internet of things, big data, and cloud computing all have noteworthy benefits, but issues remain when separately integrating them into the professional practices. Significant research is needed on converging these systems and leveraging each of their advantages in order to find solutions to real-time problems that still exist. Challenges and Opportunities for the Convergence of IoT, Big Data, and Cloud Computing is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the relation between these technologies and the impact they collectively have in solving real-world challenges. While highlighting topics such as cloud-based analytics, intelligent algorithms, and information security, this publication explores current issues that remain when attempting to implement these systems as well as the specific applications IoT, big data, and cloud computing have in various professional sectors. This book is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, developers, computer scientists, IT professionals, practitioners, scholars, students, and engineers seeking research on the integration of emerging technologies to solve modern societal issues.