eHarmony skills coming to Amazon's Alexa
Looking for love? While there's any number of apps for that, only one is compatible with the same voice-activated speaker you use to order holiday presents with free two-day shipping.
Amazon is teaming up with online dating platform eHarmony to enable a new skill for its "Alexa" artificial intelligence voice-activated speaker: matchmaker.
"The eHarmony skill for Alexa advises singles on matches who are compatible and sent messages," the dating app's CEO, Grant Langston, said in a statement, citing the opportunity for users to "surface pertinent information, like location and occupation, that some people might gloss over if they are just quickly swiping at attractive pictures."
How does it work? Once the app is open you can ask Alexa to read messages, look for matches, see who viewed your profile and even display photos (the latter is only if you have the Echo Show, which includes a screen.)
Alexa has been programmed for encouragement, the release said, with banter such as: "Oh my, you have a lot of new matches" and "Oh and there is [NAME]. What a catch! He seems great."
Founded in 2000, eHarmony says it uses "relationship science" to create more-compatible matches based on personality preferences. Depending on the subscription length, the cost to join can be anywhere from $20 to $40 per month.
Online dating has ballooned into a $3 billion industry, according to a report from research firm IBISWorld, with more than 6,000 companies vying for a piece of the partnering pie.
According to Pew Research, 15 percent of Americans have used online dating, while 29 percent report knowing someone who has married or entered into a long-term partnership with someone they met via online dating.