Alexa can follow your moves
Alexa is super responsive to voice requests; after all, that’s her job! But with their latest technology, Amazon is moving onto something even easier: motion detection.
Right now it’s available in 4th Generation Echo Show, Echo Dot and Echo Dot with clock devices. But I expect it to be a feature in future devices as well.
So what’s the benefit?
Instead of walking into a room and saying, “Alexa, turn on the lights,” she uses ultrasound technology to sense your presence and turn it on automatically. And it’s not just lights. We turn down our thermometer every night, and some days I don’t remember to turn it back up until I’m shivering. With ultrasound motion detection and a smart thermometer, she can turn it on when you’re there, and not when you’re not.
To enable it,
- Go to Alexa app and tap Devices on the bottom menu.
- Tap Echo & Alexa, and the tap the device you want to use.
- Tap the cog in the upper right to access the device’s settings and look for Home Monitoring. Toggle it on to enable.
- With a screened device, you can also access it via the Settings panel on the device. Swipe down from the top center to access the panel, then toggle on Home Monitoring.
Pro Tip: Worried about lights flashing if you’re coming and going? No need; she waits seven minutes before changing the setting.