Timed well for the second lockdown, a new Amazon Alexa Skill has been launched today to help people with their wellbeing and loneliness.
Aberdeenshire based, TL Tech Smart Home Solutions created the new skill, called Kindspace, which is a unique voice-first experience that allows users to track and improve their general wellbeing and improve loneliness.
This skill is very timely with the UK about to go into a second lockdown and some of Europe already in a second lockdown. Kindspace is designed to make users more aware of their key wellbeing indicators at a time when finding balance and managing self-care can be difficult.
Free to use, the skill works by carrying out daily check-ins with the user to help understand their energy levels and feelings. The user can also ask Kindspace for the tip of the day or specific advice on a range of aspects including sleep, exercise, nutrition, relationships, and mindfulness.
Studies have shown that over half of users are using their smart speaker devices more often now than before the pandemic began, and three in five users have said that their voice assistants helped them through the first lockdown.
Co-founders of Kindspace and owners of TL Tech, Thomas and Caroline Laurenson
TL Tech’s founder, Thomas Laurenson was recently
a finalist in the Digital Volunteer Award category of the Tech4Good Awards 2020 after he produced a suite of online support resources including short tips videos, live tutorials, and help guides, allowing people to adopt a voice assistant.
As part of the Tech4Good awards finals, the company set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise £1500 to complete the building and testing of the Kindspace skill following an initial £10k investment by TL Tech in research and development.
Surpassing its target, TL Tech raised a total of £1,925.
“We’re really excited for the launch of Kindspace,” said Caroline Laurenson, co-founder of Kindspace and managing director of TL Tech. “Technologies like smart homes and voice assistants have amazing power to transform our lives and enhance our wellbeing.
“There’s some really compelling research that shows the use of voice assistants has increased dramatically as a direct result of us all spending more time at home and that people are finding them really supportive in alleviating loneliness.”
Thomas Laurenson, co-founder of Kindspace, added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who donated to our Crowdfunder and helped to complete the build and testing of the Kindspace skill. This funding means we can make the skill available for free and help raise awareness of the benefits of voice assistants.”