videostorm Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 The Video Storm NetPlay Alexa skill has just been updated to treat your video zones as Amazon / Alexa smart home devices. What does this mean? You can now group your NetPlay video zone with the Alexa device in that room (using the Alexa app). Once grouped, you don't have to refer to the zone by name when in that room. You can also include your NetPlay devices in scenes created in the Alexa app. This allows for more natural, intuitive voice control of your AV system. Here are some examples: (Controlling via the Alexa grouped with that room) Alexa, turn on TV Alexa, set source to Dad's cable Alexa, change channel to 320 Alexa, volume up 20 Alexa, set source to DirectTV Alexa, set PIP to Front Door Cam Alexa, set PIP to Off Alexa, turn on Tile Macro Alexa, turn off TV (Controlling via an Alexa in a different room) Commands are all the same as above, just add "on ROOM_NAME" to the end We also have a new demo video on our web site. http://www.video-storm.com/alexa.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 The Control4 Alexa skill does this, too, for any integrated video source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videostorm Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 26 minutes ago, thegreatheed said: The Control4 Alexa skill does this, too, for any integrated video source. Cool, I was not aware they changed this. Which driver & skill is necessary for it to integrate as a smart home device? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 Just the Control4 skill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 1 hour ago, thegreatheed said: Just the Control4 skill. And the extra programming required to do those scenes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 Just now, lippavisual said: And the extra programming required to do those scenes. nope. the skill supports video devices natively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videostorm Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 1 hour ago, thegreatheed said: nope. the skill supports video devices natively. I don't have 4sight, so I can't experiment with their skill.... I do see it is a smart home device skill (like ours). However, it seems to be using the older API. (assuming you have N sources and M rooms) From the table above, it looks like the skill creates N x M devices with names = "ROOM SOURCE". Then you associated all the devices with a given room name with the Alexa in that room (in the Alexa app). Then you "watch" a source by saying "turn on ROOM SOURCE". Is this correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videostorm Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Come to think of it, in their skill you probably don't associate/group any devices in the alexa app. You actually have to give the full name of the device in every command anyway, so it wouldn't help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 1 hour ago, videostorm said: Come to think of it, in their skill you probably don't associate/group any devices in the alexa app. You actually have to give the full name of the device in every command anyway, so it wouldn't help. 1 It'll do 'in context' commands. Once a device is selected through the skill, for a while afterward "Alexa, turn the channel up" turns it up on the source you previously selected. Is this what you mean by full name in every command? But obviously, your skill will have some cool, additional things, like PIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
videostorm Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Amazon updated their API to add a new type of device with configurable variables (mode controller). It can be used to fix some of the prior limitations. We updated our skill to take advantage of that. So instead of having a bunch of "devices" defined for every source, now we just have a single device for each room / tv. Then you can use the Alexa app to "group" those devices with the Taps/Echos/etc that they are in the same physical room with. Then when to say a command in that room, you never need to say the rooms name. More reliable than command context (no ambiguity). Overall, it just makes it easier to use. Less names for the user to remember and shorter commands. C4 could take advantage of it also if they update their skill. They could use "Alexa, set watch to DVD" and "Alexa, set listen to Pandora" instead of the "turn on ROOM SOURCE" terminology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 30 minutes ago, videostorm said: Amazon updated their API to add a new type of device with configurable variables (mode controller). It can be used to fix some of the prior limitations. We updated our skill to take advantage of that. So instead of having a bunch of "devices" defined for every source, now we just have a single device for each room / tv. Then you can use the Alexa app to "group" those devices with the Taps/Echos/etc that they are in the same physical room with. Then when to say a command in that room, you never need to say the rooms name. More reliable than command context (no ambiguity). Overall, it just makes it easier to use. Less names for the user to remember and shorter commands. C4 could take advantage of it also if they update their skill. They could use "Alexa, set watch to DVD" and "Alexa, set listen to Pandora" instead of the "turn on ROOM SOURCE" terminology. Sounds cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 18 hours ago, thegreatheed said: nope. the skill supports video devices natively. Ha!! When the heck did they add that?? I thought it was only lights and stats that would auto populate for control? Goes to show you how much Alexa work I've had to do. No one around me wants it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BPFUNK Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 If you create the "groups" in the Alexa App, you can say "turn on the TV" and it knows which TV you are referring to based on the Alexa device in that group. The only limitation i've found here is i can't use any Ecobee4s as the local grouped Alexa device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatheed Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 5 hours ago, lippavisual said: Ha!! When the heck did they add that?? I thought it was only lights and stats that would auto populate for control? Goes to show you how much Alexa work I've had to do. No one around me wants it. end of last year sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 On 3/29/2019 at 9:18 PM, thegreatheed said: end of last year sometime. Even earlier, I think... closer to mid last year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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