Anzac Day will be completely different this year with all events and gatherings cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions but Australians can still honour our war heroes from home using Amazon Alexa.
To help commemorate the day, Amazon Alexa can transport you back through history with the oral histories, diaries of Australian war heroes and contemporary stories from those currently in service.
You can even hold your own virtual service.
The Alexa skill Anzac Stories was developed in partnership with the State Library of Queensland and software start-up Alkira which received the Advance Queensland Ignite fund.
Here’s what you need to do:
– Say “Alexa, Launch Anzac Stories” to hear a selection of histories from past and present serving members of the armed forces or stories retold from letters and diaries.
– Say “Alexa, Ask Anzac Stories to play the Last Post” to conduct a virtual service and observe a minute’s silence from home.
– Say “Alexa, Ask Anzac Stories to place a poppy” and State Library of Queensland staff will lay a poppy in Anzac Square Memorial Gallery or beside a memorial plaque of your choice. You can request email confirmation that your poppy has been placed, along with an image as a keepsake.
Images of placed poppies will also appear on Anzac Square Memorial Gallery social media.
Users can access Anzac Stories through an Alexa-enabled device or, if you don’t have a device, you can download the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone.
And you can also play the traditional Two Up game by saying “Alexa, let’s play Two Up” to launch the skill and play with family and friends.
