There is a recurring bit in Star Trek: The Next Generation where Capt. Picard orders “Tea. Early Grey. Hot.” and the ship’s computer magically makes one appear. Though the all-knowing, all-doing computer of the Enterprise served as the inspiration for Amazon’s Alexa, right now, her food producing skills are still a bit slim.
Orderscape, a young B2B startup, is looking to change that by creating a voice ordering software layer that uses smart speakers like Alexa to let people order from restaurants just by speaking.
The goal, according to Orderscape CEO Michael Atkinson, is to connect with enough restaurants so that people at home could say “Alexa, I’m hungry for a cheeseburger.” Alexa would reply with nearby burger joints, and then allow you to pick the restaurant, customize your order (no pickles!) and complete the transaction, all just by speaking. (Orderscape only facilitates the voice order, so you’ll still need to set up an account/payment information with the appropriate vendor.)
To achieve this, Orderscape is working with platforms such as Olo, Onosys and Monkey Media — companies that already power online and mobile ordering systems for thousands of restaurants.
As Atkinson describes it, Orderscape is a plug-in that connects these ordering platforms with smart speakers like the Amazon Echo or Google Home. “We built our technology stack and integrate it into Alexa using our own natural language processing engine,” said Atkinson.
Read more at The Spoon: https://thespoon.tech/orderscape-wants-to-be-the-voice-layer-for-ordering-food-through-alexa/
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