- A new bedtime story skill has been introduced for Amazon's Alexa
- Tumbles and Stripes is a science-backed story designed to help kids drift off
- It can be backed up with a full bedtime Alexa Routine including dimming smart lights
Amazon has announced fresh powers for Alexa to help parents in the nightly routine of getting their kids to go to sleep. It comes in the form of a bedtime story that’s been specifically tailored – and is "science-backed" – to work effectively towards this end.
The story was written by TV presenter Vogue Williams, who also narrates the tale, and the scientific advice comes courtesy of a sleep expert from Durham university, Professor Helen Ball.
Tumbles and Stripes is a story about a mother taking her two young tigers through their bedtime routine (apparently inspired by Vogue’s son, who’s very keen on animals).
Professor Ball (of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre at Durham university) advised on the pacing of the tale and use of soothing themes. It also contains elements such as repeated phrases and a gradual reduction in the volume level as the story goes on, in order to help generate a sleepy feeling.
Also, a key point here is the focus of the story itself being a bedtime routine that kids will quickly identify with, as that’s what they’re going through themselves.
Parents will not only be able to use their smart speaker to help get their child to sleep with this tiger-themed tale, but Amazon further notes that there’s a full bedtime Alexa Routine which has been introduced.
This backs up Vogue’s story, following it with brown noise and dimming the lights, all adding to the effect of helping the child drift off (assuming you have smart lights hooked up to Alexa, of course, in the latter case).
Those with Alexa can activate said bedtime routine by heading here, or to tell the story of Tumbles and Stripes, just ask: “Alexa, help my child fall asleep".
A bit creepy, or simply cutesy?
Is it somehow a bit creepy to get Alexa to lull your child off to sleep? I can see why some people might think so, and take the view that bedtime stories are best given the personal touch – and that drafting in digital help is not going to be as effective as your own on-the-fly softening of voice, and embellishments to the tale (perhaps).
But of course, you don’t have to use Alexa for bedtime story duties, this is just another option open to users. And in fairness, this sounds like a suitably cutesy tale, and a good way of having a bedtime story read to your kids in this manner – rather than using just a plain audiobook (as many parents already do) without any of the mentioned tailoring implemented by Professor Ball.
Not everyone has time to fit in a full bedtime routine every day, after all, and as part of the background to the creation of this story, Amazon undertook a survey of UK adults. It found that 25% of respondents “struggled to put their children to bed regularly” and that 12% reported “consistent difficulties” in this respect. All of which can add to the stress of an overly busy life, of course.
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