This hacker made Amazon’s Alexa talk to Google’s Now and make it activate Apple’s Siri
What could be better than asking just one voice assistant to call upon the others? In other words, what if we could make them all talk to one another?
An enterprising developer by the name of Leon Nicholls recently activated Siri on an iPhone by going through three different voice-enabled assistants first. Using Amazon’s recently released Alexa voice-command system, a naughty chain of command was created between Amazon’s Alexa, Google Now, and Apple’s Siri.
First, Nicholls used a Raspberry Pi loaded with Amazon’s Alexa Skills Kit, a collection of tools that allows users program new features into the voice service. Then, he starts off by activating voice commands on his Raspberry Pi and he asks it to “Ask Alexa how to use Siri.”
“Alexa, ask Google how to enable ‘Hey Siri,’” says the Raspberry Pi.
“Okay Google,” Amazon’s black cylinder replies, using keywords that activate a Google Nexus 6P phone at its base. “How do I enable ‘Hey Siri’?” asks the Amazon Echo.
The phone pauses to search for an answer on Google.
“According to MacWorld, the next time you summon Siri with a command by either holding down on the home button or by calling out ‘Hey Siri!’ when your iOS device is plugged in, you’ll be prompted with a setup screen,” replies Google Now.
An iPhone 6S takes a moment to recognize the call. It wakes up, asking no person or device in particular, “Yes?”
As the Siri is left hanging, the conversation reaches a dead end.
While it is amusing to see companies who are vying for a share of the nascent market for its virtual assistants, it will equally interesting to see what other tricks people can come up with when using all these different services together.
