Amazon and Disney Announce Hey Disney Voice Assistant

Amazon and Disney have jointly announced the Hey Disney voice assistant. This service uses Amazon’s Alexa technology and provides users with interactive Disney stories, trivia facts and jokes. It is the first custom Alexa voice assistant for Echo devices.

The Hey Disney voice assistant offers over a thousand new interactions with the likes of Mickey Mouse, Dory from the Finding Nemo series and Olaf from the Frozen series. For example, users can listen to Disney stories, but can also set alarms or check the weather via the Disney characters.

Hey Disney is based on Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant program. With this program, parties can create their own voice assistant that works with Alexa technology. This makes it easier for companies to develop their own assistant. Such voice assistants have unique wake words, voices, ‘personalities’ and features. These services can work together with Alexa.

The voice assistant is expected to be available for purchase within the Alexa Skills Store for supported Echo devices early next year. It is unknown which Echo devices will be supported and how much the service will cost. The two companies also announced their intention to deploy Hey Disney and Alexa services in hotel rooms at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.