Google has planned the expansion of the Google Assistant by launching its SDK. The latest move by the search giant is aiming to build out an artificial intelligence (AI) powered ecosystem that is not just limited to Google apps and services and is also open to all developers.
“With this SDK you can now start building your own hardware prototypes that include the Google Assistant, like a self-built robot or a voice-enabled smart mirror,” writes Chris Ramsdale, product manager of Google Assistant, in a blog post.
The SDK comes bundled with a gRPC API, a Python-based open source client that handles authentication and access to the API, samples and documentation. Also, there are bindings for languages such as Java, Python, C#, Node.js and Ruby.
Cross-language support
The cross-language support empowers the Google Assistant SDK to enable prototyping on a range of hardware starting from a smartphone or tablet to a Raspberry Pi 3.
Hotword support in pipeline
Although Google has precisely provided most of the major features of the Assistant through the SDK, it still does not have the core hotword support. The engineering team at Google is also in development to bring companion app integration.
Having said that, the initial SDK release is enough to influence developers to build new experiences for the Google Assistant. It would counter Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana over time.
You can check the features on the developer preview by downloading the Google Assistant SDK. A GitHub repository has also emerged to let you start developing your projects using the new offering.
