New Smart Skill Helps Parents at Mealtimes

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Sprout

It's no secret that kids don't like eating their vegetables – but organic baby-food maker Sprout Foods is using smart skill technology to provide a solution to mealtime battles.

The new Sophie Sprout voice skill for Amazon Alexa aims to eliminate the hassle of mealtimes by playing catchy, food-themed songs to encourage toddlers to eat their fruit and veg. In addition, the Mealtime Adventure feature guides parents and kids through the 'here comes the airplane'-style spoon-feeding game – as well as other tactics for getting them to eat more.

Audio skills for kids are a rapidly growing category of apps for voice assistants that run on smart speakers. The Amazon Echo currently has many child-targeted voice skills in the US, reaching a new demographic of smart-speaker users. The technology is gaining mainstream popularity – particularly among young millennial mothers.

Sprout Foods is a great example of how cross-industry collaboration can lead to innovative solutions for day-to-day problems. By blending tech with food and beverage, the New Jersey company is successfully tapping into the health-conscious mentality of today's consumer.

For more on this, see Natal Nutrition: From Fertility To First Foods and Gen Alpha: Raising the Superkids