Feasibility Question

[Guest AlanStirling]

posted this over on the add-on developers forum but been met with a deafening silence so Take 2 here:Hi one and all ...i'm hoping someone with knowledge of voice-activated add-ons might be able to cast some light as to the possibilty, and level of difficulty of producing a simple utility to change instrument settings in FSX using the Trainable MS voice application. Basically what i'm talking about is functionality along the lines of, when in AP mode: i say 'heading 270' and hey presto! the plane changes direction to that heading. I am aware that Cockpit Chatter carries this functionality but i gave up on it due to it's poor response success rate (in his sales pitch the developer stresses 'no training required', in my opinion a flaw as the success rate simply ain't going to improve). CC also comes with verbal responses by the 'virtual co-pilot' and checklist functionality, neither of which i need. All i'm looking for is a straightforward bare bones utility that in concert with my copy of Shoot would enable me to achieve nearly complete hands-free functionality in the sim ...Alan

[Pete Dowson 558]

i'm hoping someone with knowledge of voice-activated add-ons might be able to cast some light as to the possibilty, and level of difficulty of producing a simple utility to change instrument settings in FSX using the Trainable MS voice application. Basically what i'm talking about is functionality along the lines of, when in AP mode: i say 'heading 270' and hey presto! the plane changes direction to that heading. I am aware that Cockpit Chatter carries this functionality but i gave up on it due to it's poor response success rate (in his sales pitch the developer stresses 'no training required', in my opinion a flaw as the success rate simply ain't going to improve). CC also comes with verbal responses by the 'virtual co-pilot' and checklist functionality, neither of which i need. All i'm looking for is a straightforward bare bones utility that in concert with my copy of Shoot would enable me to achieve nearly complete hands-free functionality in the sim ...

It's Your Plane (IYP) is the best add-on I know for hands-free operation. If you wanted to do things like the AP settings only you could probably use SpeechBuddy to convert spoken commands to keypresses and program those in FS or FSUIPC. But I can thoroughly recommend IYP.RegardsPete

[Guest AlanStirling]

Pete ...appreciate your taking the trouble to respond to my query. In response could i say the following: Shoot which i run with fsx very neatly and unintrusively (no robotic-voiced feedback) takes care of the spoken command/keystroke functionality which the likes of Speechbuddy provides. IYP i know comes highly recommended but a) is far too elaborate for my needs. In my use of fsx i'm a minimalist with no interest in procedurally correct operation of any plane i'm flying, and :( falls flat on its face for me as it utilises 2 of my pet hates i.e. the aforementioned robotic voices and scrolling screen messages. No, my Holy Grail would be a barebones utility which would simply convert voice-commands into instrument setting changes (heading/altitude/radio frequencies etc). I might accept an acknowledgement tone sounding but certainly no spoken feedback of any description. In short, a dutifully silent but willing virtual extra pair of hands leaving me (in conjunction with the likes of Shoot) hands-free to steer the plane and enjoy the scenery. I suppose one might apply the logic to my situation: can't get it done externally, then do it yourself! Problem there is i have absolutely no programming knowledge and wouldn't know where to begin... So, i guess i'm well and trully stumped ...all the best Alan

[Pete Dowson 558]

... the aforementioned robotic voices

The default MS voices aren't very good (but free). I have purchased a couple of excellent UK voices which sound very natural most of the time. Yes, they do still trip up on some words, but mostly they sound good.

... and scrolling screen messages.

They must be optional as I don't see them. Mind you, I am running IYP on a client PC, not on the FS PC, so it can use my headset not the 5.1 FS speaker system.

In short, a dutifully silent but willing virtual extra pair of hands leaving me (in conjunction with the likes of Shoot) hands-free to steer the plane and enjoy the scenery.

A bit like slewing, in fact? If you aren't doing any flying, why have a flight simulator? <G>Anyway, if "Shoot" can provide keystroke, like Speech Buddy, then you can program those to do more or less what you like using a registered install of FSUIPC. Obviously some things are more difficult than others. Having keystrokes for every possible heading setting is rather daunting, for instance. You really need something which recognises the numbers and converts them into parameters for assignable controls. Or I suppose you could to use several approximations (e.g. to nearest 90 degrees - N, E, S, W) then big and small increments/decrements (20, 5, 1) so arriving to any heading within a few commands, with perhaps 10 assignments needed.There are probably other, better, ways, using FSUIPC offsets controls and maybe a little bit of Lua plug-in programming. The only difficult really is translating a series of numeric-related keypresses into a single number. The number needs building up before the operative control is issued, so maybe you'd need to say, e.g. "Set 2 5 0 heading". The "set" sends the keystroke which clears the location ready for a number. The number computes as their related keystrokes are received (multiply by 10, add new number ...), then the Heading keystroke tells it how to use that number.Yes, it approaches true programming in the approach and solution even if no compiler and specific language may be involved.Pete