What it does

Alias sits on top of your Google Home or Amazon Echo like a fungal cap. It listens for a custom wake-word you train through a web app, then whispers the real wake-word to your assistant while drowning the built-in mic in looping noise. You get custom commands, a new name for your device, and a brief noise-free window to actually talk to it.

The interesting bit

The project treats privacy and customization as the same problem solved through misdirection. You can flip Alias’s voice gender or language to “introduce false labelling” into the assistant’s algorithm—essentially confusing the cloud service about who is asking and from where. It’s adversarial hardware with a sense of humor.

Key highlights

• Custom wake-words via Pocketsphinx, trained through a phone-friendly web UI at alias.local
• Pre-built SD card image for Raspberry Pi 3A+ with ReSpeaker hat; manual install documented but discouraged
• Configurable noise, delay windows, sensitivity per command, and voice synthesis parameters
• Shortcut system: say “Funky Time,” Alias whispers the full Spotify command to Google
• GPL-licensed, with 3D-printable hardware designs on Instructables

Caveats

• Last validated on Raspbian Stretch (version 9); dependencies “might very for differen versions” [sic]
• Dropbox-hosted disk image for easy setup is an external dependency that could rot
• The gender/nationality spoofing is noted to only affect “long commands” and works through voice synthesis, not deeper signal manipulation

Verdict

Tinkerers who want their smart home without the smart surveillance should look here. If you don’t own a Raspberry Pi, a ReSpeaker hat, and a 3D printer—or if you just want to change Alexa’s wake-word the normal way—this is overkill.