Amulet Voice Remote

[Kalle]

Eddy, have you a reseller in Europe, or do you plan something in the direction?

[eddyc]

Eddy, have you a reseller in Europe, or do you plan something in the direction?

We're working on finalising our CE approval to sell into Europe at the moment and when this is complete, Amulet should be available from resellers in the UK. We are also seeing interest in Germany, where Media Center is very active (even though we don't support German yet).

What country are you in, Kalle?

[Wanilton]

Eddy, look the flag, Kalle live in Germany....Prosit

[eddyc]

Doh! Completely missed the flag. I have now set my own flag accordingly :-)

[Wanilton]

James, como configuro o novo arquivo executável "amulat USB Monitor" que se encontra no diretório do vox para que funcione a integração com o Amulet?  percebi este novo arquivo executavel, ele tem que rodar antes do voxcommando? basta configurar e pode ser encerrado ou tem que ficar minimizado? precisa executar cada vez que se roda o vox?

James, how do I configure the new executable file "Amulat USB Monitor" that is in the directory of the vox to work to integrate with the Amulet? I noticed this new executable file, it has to run before voxcommando? just set up and can be terminated? need to run every time you turn On the vox?

[Kalle]

Eddy, have you a reseller in Europe, or do you plan something in the direction?

We're working on finalising our CE approval to sell into Europe at the moment and when this is complete, Amulet should be available from resellers in the UK. We are also seeing interest in Germany, where Media Center is very active (even though we don't support German yet).

What country are you in, Kalle?

Hi eddyc,

welcome to the VoxCommand-Forum. I live in Germany (Frankfurt). I've seen James' Video, and I am very impressed that it works with VoxCom., Media Center., Media Monkey etc...
I'm sure there are many people in Germany who are looking for something like the Amulet remote. The HTPC market is starting here, only now, as prices for HTPC's cheaper and the devices are smaller. For most people it must be all plug and play, and also it must be configurable on demand. VoxCommando and Amulet is a good way for this.

Greetings Kalle

[jitterjames]

James, how do I configure the new executable file "Amulat USB Monitor" that is in the directory of the vox to work to integrate with the Amulet? I noticed this new executable file, it has to run before voxcommando? just set up and can be terminated? need to run every time you turn On the vox?

You just run it and leave it on.  You can minimize it to the task-bar.  It may need a bit of adjustment still.  Once or twice I think it locked up after a suspend / wake.  I'm not sure.  If it happens you can end-task and run it again.

I will probably make it more customizable in the future.  Currently it lowers the system volume.  You can set it by how much, but some users might prefer to leave the system volume alone, and instead lower the volume of mediamonkey or xbmc so that the TTS volume is still loud... also some users might prefer to switch to 'standby' mode in stead of 'on' when the remote is lifted...

I thought it would be best to leave it as a separate program so that users who don't own the remote would not have to worry about the extra configuration or resources.

[painy]

Welcome eddyc!

That looks mighty practical!
Too bad my student budget won't allow me to buy this for another few years.

One remark though, is it not easier/faster to just press the remote buttons for navigation/playback control rather then tilting and issuing commands via voice? Ofc, the buttons cant replace the 'play this music/movie' voice control but i think the remote itself would render a lot of functions of VC obsolete. VC software would be a great addition to this remote, but the remote can't replace the situation you probably envisioned when creating VC: Moving freely around the room with your hands entirely free and still being able to control the media functions. Ideally would be if you could program a button/voice command to hotswap between the mic of the remote and another one positioned near the couch/in the kitchen or something so it's closer to your mouth then it is to the speakers.

I guess a perfect situation would be perfect echo cancellation and/or context aware voice recognition, but that 'll have to wait for the future i guess

Thats my opinion anyway

[jitterjames]

What you say is true, but it is a good thing and you make it sound like a bad thing.  Having the remote buttons means you have more choices, more power, more flexibility.  These are the concepts that I have tried to build VC around.  Pushing the buttons, is not always going to be better or faster, but in situations where it is, then you'll be happy to have them, and like you say they cannot replace the more complex commands that VC includes.

Notice in the video when the music starts playing because I accidentally held the remote up to my mouth while I was talking.  Did you see how quickly I was able to pause the music with a voice command.  In fact if I had tried to use the buttons on the remote in that situation, I would have first needed to look down and locate the pause button (not possible if you are blind  ), then point the remote at the IR receiver (not practical from where I was sitting  ) and then push the button.

Now on the other hand, when you are browsing content, when you don't know what you want and you just want to scroll through the options using arrow keys etc. then having to use voice commands will probably be a bit of a chore, so in that case you'll be very happy to have the buttons there as an option.

This device is obviously not be the perfect solution for all possible situations, but it is one more tool to choose from.  I think the ideal would be if we could have a sister device that operated on the same RF dongle, which was basically just the microphone with an on off switch of some kind.  It is only a matter of time.  I know that Amulet will continue to come up with new ideas, and if they don't do it someone else will.

All I can say is, I am glad to see the direction that things are heading.  What we are able to do today, would have seemed impossible a few years ago, and the possibilities grow every day.  As new devices and improvements to speech recognition engines become available, we will be there, ready to take advantage of the tools.  

[painy]

I guess my reply came out more negative then I intended, and like you said, the remote really adds to the versatility of VC so thats great news

[Wanilton]

James,

Vou receber meu controle da Amulet na próxima semana, podes me enviar o arquivo de configuração do eventghost para uso  no XBMC?

I get control of the Amulet next week, can you send me the file configuration for use in XBMC by eventghost?

grato

Wanilton

[jitterjames]

which configuration file do you mean?  to use the mce remote buttons as xbmc control?

[Wanilton]

YES

[jitterjames]

ok, I have only configured the basic buttons, but it should be easy to add the ones you want.

make sure you have the latest version (1462) from here: http://www.eventghost.org/downloads/

[jitterjames]

oh this is important.  Do you have an ir receiver already?