Amazon invites you over to see just how awesome Alexa is

By Lulu Chang Published May 11, 2018

Amazon Echo Alexa Laughing — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Alexa seems to be quickly approaching goddess status, and now Amazon is setting up shrines in her honor — sort of. On Wednesday, the e-commerce giant introduced what it’s calling Amazon Experience Centers, which will offer customers the ability to “experience first-hand the convenience of the Alexa smart home experience and more in a real home environment.” The assumption is that once you try Alexa, you’ll never be able to live without her.

Amazon Experience Centers are now opening in select communities throughout Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC, with further locations coming soon. The Centers will be located in Lennar model homes, which have been built to be Alexa-enabled from the ground up. That means these entire homes are effectively Alexa-responsive — you can ask Amazon’s smart assistant to turn on the television, turn off the lights, set the thermostat, draw the shades, and more.

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It won’t just be Alexa that these model homes show off — Amazon will also be shining the spotlight on Dash Buttons, Fire TVs, and even Amazon Home Services.

“We wanted customers to experience a real home environment that showcases the convenience of the Alexa smart home experience, great entertainment available with Prime, and Home Services,” said Nish Lathia, general manager, Amazon Services. “We are excited to extend our relationship with Lennar with the launch of Amazon Experience Centers. As one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, Lennar offers the potential to enable this experience within easy driving distance of millions of customers.”

If you’re interested in visiting a model home to see how you could upgrade your own residence, you can check out Amazon’s new Experience page and set up a tour.

“Amazon’s ability to bring a home to life with Alexa smart home experiences, entertainment and services — coupled with their obsession with customer experience — is a natural extension of our Everything’s Included approach to homebuilding,” said David Kaiserman, president of Lennar Ventures. “We picked Amazon because of our shared commitment to customers, their Amazon experts across the country, and their ability to connect customers with thousands of service providers through Amazon Home Services.”

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