Summary

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal assistant to answer your questions, help you remember important tasks, and control your environment? Meet Kalliope, a Python powered, modular, voice controlled automation platform. This week Nicolas Marcq and Thibaud Buffet explain how they started the project, what makes it stand out from other open source and commercial options, and how you can start using it today.

Do you want to try out some of the tools and applications that you heard about on Podcast.__init__? Do you have a side project that you want to share with the world? With Linode’s managed Kubernetes platform it’s now even easier to get started with the latest in cloud technologies. With the combined power of the leading container orchestrator and the speed and reliability of Linode’s object storage, node balancers, block storage, and dedicated CPU or GPU instances, you’ve got everything you need to scale up. Go to pythonpodcast.com/linode today and get a $60 credit to launch a new cluster, run a server, upload some data, or… And don’t forget to thank them for being a long time supporter of Podcast.__init__!



Preface

Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great.

I would like to thank everyone who supports us on Patreon. Your contributions help to make the show sustainable.

When you’re ready to launch your next project you’ll need somewhere to deploy it. Check out Linode at www.podastinit.com/linode and get a $20 credit to try out their fast and reliable Linux virtual servers for running your awesome app.

Need to learn more about how to scale your apps or learn new techniques for building them? Pluralsight has the training and mentoring you need to level up your skills. Go to www.pythonpodcast.com/pluralsight to start your free trial today.

Visit the site to subscribe to the show, sign up for the newsletter, read the show notes, and get in touch.

To help other people find the show please leave a review on iTunes, or Google Play Music, tell your friends and co-workers, and share it on social media.

If you work with data for your job or want to learn more about how open source is powering the latest innovations in data science then make your way to the Open Data Science Conference, happening in London in October and San Francisco in November. Follow the links in the show notes to register and help support the show in the process.

Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Nicolas Marcq and Thibaud Buffet about Kalliope, a modular always-on voice controlled personal assistant designed for home automation.

Interview

Introductions

How did you get introduced to Python?

What is the Kalliope project and how did it get started?

How does Kalliope compare to commercial options such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, as well as other open source projects such as Mycroft or Jasper?

The majority of voice assistant projects that I have seen default to interacting in English, whereas Kalliope is multi-lingual. What led you to that design choice and how is that implemented?

One of the perennial questions around voice assistants is privacy, so how does Kalliope work to mitigate the issues associated with having an always on device listening in people’s homes?

How is Kalliope architected internally and how has the design evolved over time?

What are some of the most difficult or challenging aspects of building Kalliope and its associated projects?

What are some of the most interesting uses of Kalliope that you are aware of?

What are some of the most notable features or improvements that you have planned for the future of Kalliope?

How has the choice of Python as the implementation worked for you, and if you were to start over today do you think you would make the same decision?

Keep In Touch

Nicolas @Sispheor on Twitter Sispheor on GitHub Website

Thibaud @Tib_Tac on Twitter LaMonF on GitHub



Picks

Links

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA