Fwd: [misterhouse-users] New functionality

[Stuart Grimshaw <stuart@xxxxxxx>]

I got this from the Misterhouse list. Sounds very interesting, and gives a
very high VR% according to the guy who tested it.

I know this mail is MH centered, but it should work for any HA device that
accepts voice input.

>Everyone might want to try this one (your comments/ideas/enhancements
will
>be greatly appreciated):
>
>I m a pretty new MH user and have been working on a whole-house
wireless
>voice response (VR) system for a couple of weeks now.  I achieved a
>high-90% VR response rate as long as I was within 10 feet of the
>transmitter.  Then it came to me (I m very interested in hearing other
s
>success if they ve tried this one&)
>
>I purchased a pair of Audiovox FR560FM family radios (FRS) for $89/pair
at
>Best Buy electronics.  These units have built-in voice activation.  (I
>would imagine the Motorola or Cobra s with voice activation would also
>work with the functionality described below).  I connected the speaker
out
>on the FRS unit to the MIC in on the computer s sound card.  Then
>connected the computer s speaker out to the FRS unit MIC in port.  I
next
>activated the FRS unit s voice activation mode.  I then created a new
user
>profile on MS Voice.  Using the second FRS radio as a transmitter, I
>balanced the sound and went through a brief MS Voice training session.
>
>I can now be anywhere within 1-2 miles of the house, press the talk
button
>then speak MH commands into the FRS transmitter, release the talk
button
>and hear MH respond back with confirmations in the voice I have chosen
(I
>use Mary does anyone know where you can download additional voices
>compatible with MS Voice?  HAL would be cool J).  It s not quite my
>whole-house wireless voice response system envisioned, but the concept
is
>the same.  Yes, you do have to carry/wear this very small walkie-talkie
at
>your waist while you are at home, but heck, we all have numerous X10
>remotes that we have to pick up around everywhere anyway, right?  Not
to
>mention the FRS radios are a required must-have gadget anyway.  I
simply
>unhook the two alligator clips, install some batteries, and use the FRS
>radios for what they were designed to do when I need them.  I ve put
away
>all my X10 remotes (except for the ones my wife needs to run the
lights)
>and use the FRS transmitter when MH control is required.  No more
>memorizing which X10 remote button controls what light/device/macro! 
By
>the way, does anyone know how to switch a MS Voice profile by voice
command?
>
>Of course all the MH scripts work as expected.  I ve now gone through
two
>training sessions and MS Voice only misses 1-2 commands per 100 spoken
>when using the FRS radio transmitter/receiver.  I ve found that even in
a
>semi-noisy room the MIC s in the Audiovox s filter out much of the
>background noise to achieve a very high VR %.  I also purchased one of
>those CIA ear-bud with a built-in lapel MIC ($14.99) and turned on the
FRS
>radio voice activation mode.  You can t just speak normally with your
head
>straight forward, but by leaning your head over to the side and
speaking
>directly into the lapel MIC you will activate the FRS voice activation,
>can speak your command, and hear your response in the ear bud.  Of
course
>you could wear one of this ear-speaker units with the built in boom-MIC
to
>avoid leaning your head to the side, but who wants to be seen around
the
>house wearing one of those?.
>
>There are three problems using the ear-bud/lapel MIC solution.  First,
the
>first word you speak will activate the voice activation and will NOT be
>transmitted to the other receiver.  So, if your MH command is
>($v_AllInside_light  = new Voice_Cmd("{Turn the,set the,turn all
the, }
>Inside {light,lights} [on,off]");), you must transmit Computer,
turn all
>the inside lights on to achieve a VR hit.  Second problem is the
>reverse.  The first word that MH speaks will not be transmitted back to
>your ear bud speaker.  I worked around this problem by inserting the
word
>Affirmative as in ($v_AllInside_light -> tie_event('speak
"Affirmative,
>Every light inside the house has been turned $state"');) into all
the
>response scripts to get around this problem.  The MH response I hear is
>the spoken command minus the word Affirmative.   The MH voice responses
>occur 1-2 seconds after receiving the command, thus I am missing 1-2
>seconds of the response.  For this perl newbie, can anyone tell me how
to
>make MH pause two seconds before speaking the response?  I m sure this
is
>incredibly easy to modify each script, but I m hoping for a global
pause
>loop configuration option!

,,,
(o o)
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Stuart Grimshaw                                             sg@xxxxxxx
Special Projects Developer   www.schoolsnet.com               t: 07976
625221
Schoolsnet LTD                 .oooO  Oooo.                   f: 0870
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