10/20/18
Today I researched Voice user interface (VUI) and read up on the Alexa Voice Design Guide to get a better idea of how skills work. I think I jumped right into learning how to build a skill through YouTube videos without much of a research foundation. Now I am focused on some self-teaching to learn how to make this skill as efficient as possible.
I looked into the cultural aspects of my project by learning about the most popular spice blends per geographical region. This led to my first prototype idea: an Alexa skill that will give you spice recommendations based on the regional food the cook decides to make. For example, if you wanted to make a Mexican flavor inspired meal, you’d ask Alexa for her Latin American spice suggestions and she will give the top five most common spices from the area, optimally common enough that most people would already have at home.
My next step will be looking into spice blending and consulting experts.
10/23/18
I did more research on VUI frontend work and took a glimpse into backend work. This might prove to be more coding-intensive than I originally thought.
After some correspondence with Dr. Nakra and her husband, it turns out I’ll need to do much more research on how the spice rack will be executed. RFID has been ruled out at this point, and now I am looking into a possible Bluetooth-like solution.
10/25/18
In my Dynamic Web Apps course, we are learning to use databases. I decided to make my final project a virtual spice rack that keeps track of all the spices the user has in their possession. As I continue to learn more about databases, this could potentially help me with my thesis project in the future.