Google Assistant currently works on a handful of platforms including select Android phones, the Google Home smart speaker, and Google Allo chat app.
But soon Google Assistant may be available in third-party devices ranging from smart home gadgets to robots. Google has released a new software development kit that you can use to build-your-own hardware with Google Assistant baked in.
If you aren’t a developer, the more exciting news is that the SDK will make it possible for other people and companies to add Google Assistant to their hardware, much as they can already do with Amazon’s Alexa voice service.
The Google Assistant SDK includes sample code and instructions, and it’s designed to work with the Raspberry Pi 3 or similar hardware, which means you can sort of build your own Google Home with a $35 mini-computer by plugging in any mic and speakers you already have lying around.
Sure, it won’t be as pretty (and might not be a good at picking up your voice from across a room) and Google’s $129 speaker (which is currently on sale for $114), but it could be a lot cheaper… and it’s certainly a lot geekier.