Featured projects
(Click on images to learn more about each project.)
Voice Assistants
We built a prototype with a voice assistant integrated into the Switchboard contact list.
We built this using IBM Watson Assistant. We created a few tailored assistants (e.g. a “Switchboard Assistant” to provide answers about the Switchboard App; and another one to answer questions about businesses nearby the IBM Think event in Las Vegas.
We were also looking into how to use bots in groups with friends.
Dash Radio
Our Dash Radio experiment allowed users to listen to the radio together.
It tied into the broader Switchboard platform. Dash Rooms could be added as Public Groups in Switchboard.
Shout out to futurists and like-minded tinkerers.
My Channel
We provided Switchboard users with their own link(s) to share with friends or other social networks to let anyone see when they’re available.
Friends could drop in spontaneously without needing to download or
sign up for an app.
Included experiments where the user could hang out in the channel with music playing and others could drop in and join them.
Temporary Channels
Before free webRTC based rooms were commonplace, we experimented with timed rooms that could be shared to Twitter and other outlets for conversations on trending topics and other media.
Flic Buttons
We built an integration that connected buttons to
people / groups. Jim used one of these to bug
James regularly =) Video Demo: Click here
Loop In
This was an experimental feature that was used to easily add others to an ongoing call.
Switchboard friends could be added or else a link could be shared externally to allow anyone to join. Similar features became commonplace thereafter.
Alexa
Circa 2016, before "Drop in" existed, we built a prototype where we used Echo to control "TurnMeUp" (an app that pre dated Switchboard). Ultimately you could drop in on friends that were subscribed to you. Once the connection was made, VoIP was transmitted through your phone since the API didn't provide the capacity to hold open the microphones in the Echo speaker.
Illustrate use cases of the future of audio
Also spontaneous networks / hangouts etc.