Raspberry Pi launches 'Internet of Voice' competition

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has teamed up with Amazon and Hackster.io to launch a competition to build a Pi-powered equivalent to Amazon's Echo voice-activated assistant family.

Designed around the Alexa voice service, Amazon's Echo is designed to be a constantly-active voice-recognition platform with assistant capabilities. From searching through and playing items in your music collection to buying items from Amazon - naturally - and driving smart home accessories it's designed to make life easier for those who can afford it. For those who can't, Amazon has opened up developer access to the Alexa platform behind it - and there's now a competition for building your own Echo-style device.

The Internet Voice Challenge, announced this week by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, offers prizes for the best 'Internet of Voice' project in two categories: the implementation which best makes use of the Alexa Skills Kit integration platform, and the implementation which makes best use of the Alexa Voice Service itself.

Entries are accepted until the 1st of August, and must be based on a Raspberry Pi to be in with a chance of winning. The top prizes in each category include Amazon's Echo, Echo Dot, and Tap products, a trophy, and a $1,500 gift card, with lower-value prizes available for two runner-up places in each category. Full details are available on the Hackster.io page.