Alexa Goes to College | John Rome | TEDxASU

On March 31 several speakers took the stage for Boundless, TEDxASU’s 2018 event. Held in TED Talk format, the event promoted innovative and revolutionary ideas meant to move ASU and the world beyond our current boundaries. UTO’s own Deputy CIO, John Rome, was among these knowledgeable and creative thinkers.

Well known as ASU’s Voice Evangelist, John predicts a future where voice recognition software is integral not only to ASU but to the surrounding community as well. His talk touched on his experience with Amazon’s Alexa, a voice-activated virtual assistant his team is working to incorporate into various ASU programs. The focus of his talk, titled “Alexa Goes To College,” described the Tooker House Echo Dot Project, in which 1500 engineering freshmen living in ASU’s new engineering dorm were given an Amazon Echo Dot.

Rome shared the stage with Alexa herself in an entertaining dialog which demonstrated the capabilities of the system and highlighted the ways the technology can further ASU’s mission in education and research advancement as well as improve the economic, social, and cultural life of the community. You can watch the full talk below.

You can also find out more about TEDxASU here. And make sure to follow UTO on Twitter @ASU_UTO.