“Alexa, Play Brain Games!”

• Complete against players around the world in real-time using voice
• Create and customise a personal game avatar
• Level up and purchase in-game currency

The future of voice games has landed with the launch of Brain Games, the first ever online multiplayer game experience for Alexa, offering real-time, head-to-head play — all voice activated. The suite of fun and challenging word and number games can be played on Fire TV and Echo Show devices in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.

Brain Games offers four games, three of which are free to play. Players can create…

By Ruth Oakley, Creative Director at Vocala

Games have been at the forefront of the voice platforms with some of the most popular experiences being puzzles, trivia, games, and quizzes. In fact, games and trivia have consistently been in the top 10 use cases in the Voicebot.ai consumer adoption report for the last three years and that’s not a surprise.

But as voice moves from emerging into mainstream, its potential to be a force for good is becoming more and more apparent. At Vocala we have developed a specialty in voice games and trivia with 22 titles live on the…

Brands Should Embrace Voice Technology To Survive and Thrive Post-Covid

By Rob Stanbridge, Vocala MD

History has shown that a crisis leads to new ways of life, new mindsets, new habits and new opportunities. In 2007 the Global energy crisis led to new policies, regulations, legislation and standards around energy and renewables as well as new products like electric cars. All of that would have developed eventually, but it’s likely that the adoption rate would have been much slower. I believe we are at that moment with voice.

Increased Adoption and Engagement

Smart speakers are set to be the fasted…

By Rob Stanbridge, Vocala MD

Since undergoing months of ‘lockdown’ we have witnessed a huge paradigm shift in the relationship between brands and their consumers.

The ‘stay home’ message changed how, when and where brands and businesses can interact and engage with their audience. Advertisers have had to rethink both message and media, content really has become king, with social media gaining even greater power while face-to-face connections were non-existent.

It’s difficult to maintain good customer relationships at the best of times and brands now have the opportunity to rethink and ‘future-proof’ their customer communications strategies, in a world…

Usage of top games titles up by 47%

Following more than three weeks of staying at home, data from some of the top voice activated games titles shows people are turning to their voice devices for in-home entertainment. Game-play across the popular voice titles Pointless, Tenable and Deal or No Deal is up on average by 47% since the public were asked to stay at home.

Average sessions for the voice version of hit daytime TV gameshow Tenable, based on top 10 lists, are up 66%. …

“Alexa, open Super Quiz of the Day!”

A brand-new quiz skill has just launched for Amazon Alexa featuring the voice of a different celebrity each day. Super Quiz of the Day is a fun and topical general knowledge quiz hosted by top TV and radio impressionist Jon Culshaw and ‘friends’.

Every day, Jon will introduce a new special guest, impersonated by him, who will reveal the question category and comment on the player’s ability to answer (or not). …

“Alexa, open Happy Place Meditations!”

Fearne Cotton has launched a meditation experience for Amazon Alexa. Developed in partnership with leading voice studio Vocala, Happy Place Meditations offers daily guided meditations and acts as a companion to people looking to find calm, balance and relaxation. The meditations have been designed specifically for use on Alexa by Fearne and her friend Zephyr Wildman who is an accomplished teacher of yoga and meditation. Just say, “Alexa, open Happy Place Meditations” to get started.

Meditation and mindfulness have become more mainstream in recent years thanks to a range of apps and online content…

By Rob Stanbridge, Vocala MD

We’ve been examining the role and potential of voice in a purpose-driven brand world. These two final examples demonstrate how the platform can support brands that have an interest in teaching and training as well as aiding the visually impaired.

Teaching and training

Whatever the age or stage in life voice has huge potential to help people learn new things, educate themselves, complete tests and ‘train the brain’. For children it offers a fun, interactive and engaging way for them to learn, away from tablets and computers. …