Of course the above code is only conceptual… it’s not the correct syntax….. why not?

YAY! I finally got the Speech Recognition issues fixed in the GUI, and have uploaded a new version. Still no help file or documentation yet, but I’m working on it. Grab it at http://www.geekcavecreations.com/Downloads/CSGUI_setup.zip, and give it a try. Please note that you still need to already have ChatScript, and you’ll need it to be running as a server in order to be able to chat with your bot.

I’ve added the following (undocumented, so far) voice commands, to help with correcting errors, and other tasks:

1.) “backspace” - does just what it says.
2.) “delete that” - deletes the most recently recognized text.
3.) “enter” - submits the text for processing - fails for me about 15% of the time, but may just be a training issue.
4.) “options” - Opens the options dialog.
5.) “help” - Initializes ant accesses the help system.
6.) “exit” - exits the program.

Some commands I plan on adding:

1.) “select [word] ” - selects the indicated word (e.g. “select truck” selects the word “truck” in the previously generated text.
2.) “delete all” - clears out the selected input area.
3.) “shut up” - disables TTS
4.) “mute microphone” - disables Speech Recognition (sort of)
5.) “un-mute microphone” - re-enables SR

If anyone wishes to see other/more features, just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do.

I am unable to test this Dave but what if someone said, “I would like to enter the Loebner Prize?” Would it take the word “enter” to indicate a new line. If they were to say, “The hotdog stand is located near the exit”, would the program exit?

Nope. The only way for the GUI to recognize the words “enter” or “exit” as command words is if the word was uttered by itself.

Bruce Wilcox - Jun 7, 2011:

Of course the above code is only conceptual… it’s not the correct syntax….. why not?

The brackets should be quoted?

Give the man a gold star.  Though “quoted” is probably the wrong technical term.  “Escaped” is the computer term.

so an example thing of mine which is given gestural information FROM an avatar along with chat is:

s: ( \[ flex \] ) Sorry. I’m not into muscle men.

Hi folks,

I’m new to ChatScript but have been getting on very well with it.

I’m particularly impressed with Mr. Morton’s GUI! I have it working with it’s own Skype acc. so that I can converse with it from my Samsung GS2. My ultimate aim is to have a reasonably verbose and friendly interface for my home automation project.

E-Home (http://www.e-homeautomation.com) already incorporate speech recognition and TTS, but it is very bland and inhuman, i.e. you say “Lights on” and a robotic voice repeats “Lights on”.

My system is meant to be a bit more homely, i.e. “It’s a bit dark in here” gets the reply “Do you want me to turn the lights up a little?” or “Ooh it’s a bit chilly” returns “Shall I turn the heating up 2 degrees?”

My problem at this point is that I’m having to say “It’s a bit dark in here…  (pause)... Enter”

Is there a way round this that anyone can suggest?

I realise this thread has almost achieved it’s first Birthday… but worth a try
I may start a new thread if this one is past it’s sell by date

Many thanks in advance with a special thank you to Dave Morton!

Thanks, Sean, for the kudos. It’s gratifying to have one’s efforts recognised.

Also, welcome to chatbots.org! I hope you find your time here to be well spent.

I really like the approach you’re taking with your project, and I agree that the various home automation products I’ve read about seem to be somewhat impersonal, and by making the core command interpreter from a chatbot is a great way to make home automation a much more pleasurable experience.

As to the problem with having to say “enter” after a brief pause, I’ve fought with that one challenge more than any other while I was writing the app, and as you have found, I still haven’t come up with a solution yet (though you can always hit the ENTER key instead, if you’re near enough to it to do so). The main reason (I think) for my inability to overcome this hurdle is simply my lack of experience with both Visual Basic, and with the various speech API’s that I’ve tried. There’s probably a very simple solution, but I haven’t found it yet. Sadly, I’ve had this project on the back burner for so long that I have my doubts about ever being able to get back to it. However, I’ve passed the source code to a couple of other individuals so that they might continue the work I’ve started, and maybe one or both of them will overcome the problem and produce a greatly improved version. I certainly wish them both well as they work on their respective projects.

@Dave: try adding a timer.

Dave, do you do simple narrated screencasts?  Do you have a YouTube channel?  I would love to see more about your work in short videos (rather than having to spend days getting it all working on my tired hardware).  Can we even embed videos in this forum?

Forgive my technological ineptitude, but how do you get an existing chatscript to run as a server? I set it on local host and it keeps telling me that it can’t reach the server and to make sure that it’s running.

Depends. A linux version DEFAULTS to running as a server.  A PC version defaults to running locally. to make it a server you can use the LocalServer.bat file or its content equivalent.  That runs a server.
Talking to a server is a different command…LocalClient.bat

@Jan:

I’ve not tried that, but only because there needs to be some sort of “event” to trigger that timer, and that “event” would pretty much have to be some sort of silence detection. If I had that, though, I wouldn’t really NEED a timer.

@Marcus:

Sadly, I’ve no clue how to do a podcast, since I never really had any interest in subjecting the world to my ugly face, or even my voice, for that matter. I don’t have a YouTube “channel”, per se, though I do have a half dozen videos posted there, mostly of a personal nature (but not private, or they wouldn’t be there) that you’re welcome to view. Just look for EvadNotrom (long story); but that’s not relevant to the subject, is it?

I’m more than willing to do text/voice/video support through Skype or Yahoo, if that will help. My Skype is GeekCaveCreations and my yahoo is MonkeyWrenchDJM (another long story), but you’ll have to send a contact request for either, since I have anonymous IM’s and calls blocked on each. By the way, this goes for anyone else in the community, as well, even if all you want to do is have a casual chat.

@Rachel:

Like Bruce said, setting up a ChatScript server on Windows is as simple as running the batch file that he mentioned. (LocalServer.bat) The GUI takes the place of running LocalClient.bat

I don’t know if I mentioned it recently (forgetful old man, after all), but I’ve posted a newer, more feature rich version of the talking GUI on my downloads page at http://www.geekcavecreations.com that you may want to check out. I had this version sitting on my box, only needing a little work to make it ready for testing, so a few days ago I pulled it out, got that little bit of work done, cobbled together in install program, and stuffed it all together. It’s probably buggy, since I haven’t done a great deal of testing with it, but it might prove useful to some of you, so I offer it to the world at large. Anyone interested in getting the source code need only ask.

@Dave: I forgot the details, but that’s how I did it. In the designer, you no longer have to press enter when using the voice. It works like the android. When there is a little silence, it is interpreted as enter.

Hi all,
Been away on hols and came back to a mountain of work.

I’ve dabbled further with the GUI and, with the addition of a virtual cross-over cable, I’ve been able to converse with it via Skype. I’ve also added the Ivona voice. I’m about to write a WVR macro that will recognise my bots name as an enter command i.e. “it’s warm in here Ivona” instead of “It’s warm in here… enter” It’s still a bit of a clunky solution though… but good enough for home automation I suppose

@Dave.. Hi, I’d be very grateful if I could have a copy of the GUI source as I have a friend who may be able to help me improve/adapt it to suit my needs without starting from scratch. He thinks that Jan’s pause/silence idea is the way to go btw.