Warning: Voice Buddy

[JimmiG 244]

Well I got this program because I was sick of having to reach for the keyboard constantly, pressing the wrong keys etc. Too many times I've selected the wrong ATC phrase by accident, pressed F instead of G, F9 instead of F10, extended flaps instead of retracting them etc.However after trying to use this program for 1 day I have to conclude that voice recognition belongs in science-fiction moveis, not on home computers.The program is absolutely useless PERIOD.Not only does it not recognize what you say 90% of the time

[rcbarend 37]

Well,Have you ever wondered if the problem might be your equipment (PC, Mic, or whatever) instead of the programs ???I understand you are frustrated with spending $60 and having no results, but blaming speech recognition as a technology is rather pointless. Because todate it's a very mature technology, even on a home PC.I don't know about Voicebuddy, but I'm using the freeware Shoot program for over a year now, with nearly perfect results.And that for someone speaking English with a Dutch accent.....Rob

[oqvist 11]

I have voicebuddy and with my poor english it do the right thing 95 % of the time after a little bit of training.Are you having a good microphone? Me I use the Plantronics A90 with great success. It just have to be noise cancelling.But there has to be some setting you have wrong volume levels or something? Can you post what soundcard, headset and so on.Voice buddy do indead work far better than Shoot I have to say :)

[JimmiG 244]

I have used a few voice recognition programs over the years and not a single one has worked very well. It's usually a matter of repeating the same phrase over and over several times until it eventually catches a word or two, unless you want to go through hours of training. They have all been very gimmicky.Therefore I can't say I'm surprised by the results.I'm using the built-in mic of my Phillips webcam. Quality is OK but it doesn't cancel noise. Not sure I would want to spend another $50 on a microphone if that is the problem.I checked the mic using SNDREC32 and there was nothing wrong with the quality. The room is quiet as I was using headphones and the PC itself is very quiet. You could hear a low hum from the PC fans in the background of the recording but it was very faint.I obviously have a Swedish accent. Is that a problem?It usually gets the correct phrase now, but some bits are often wrong e.g. saying "Show panel 5" causes panel 9 to open 50% of the time. But every now and then it does something completely unexpected like turning the mic off or bringing up various unwanted windows.I will probably just see if it's possible to get the money back. The point of buying this was to save time, not spend hours training a computer program.

[oqvist 11]

>I have used a few voice recognition programs over the years>and not a single one has worked very well. It's usually a>matter of repeating the same phrase over and over several>times until it eventually catches a word or two, unless you>want to go through hours of training. They have all been very>gimmicky.>Therefore I can't say I'm surprised by the results.>>I'm using the built-in mic of my Phillips webcam. Quality is>OK but it doesn't cancel noise. Not sure I would want to spend>another $50 on a microphone if that is the problem.>>I checked the mic using SNDREC32 and there was nothing wrong>with the quality. The room is quiet as I was using headphones>and the PC itself is very quiet. You could hear a low hum from>the PC fans in the background of the recording but it was very>faint.>>I obviously have a Swedish accent. Is that a problem?>>It usually gets the correct phrase now, but some bits are>often wrong e.g. saying "Show panel 5" causes panel 9 to open>50% of the time. But every now and then it does something>completely unexpected like turning the mic off or bringing up>various unwanted windows.>>I will probably just see if it's possible to get the money>back. The point of buying this was to save time, not spend>hours training a computer program.For me it was enough with half an hour. Then you can train every command by itself. And I do recommend you get some Plantronics A90 or similar. They don

[JSkorna 138]

Hi,Some are better than others, Shoot wouldn't recognize my commands very well, but now using FlightAssistant I get very good results. Only one brief training session and no special mic or headphones.Best of all it was freeware and it is easy to add my own commands!Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[Guest christianholmes]

Voice Buddy uses the MS Speech SDK- The same engine as shoot, Flight Assistant, ATC Simulator, and pretty much every other speech program out there. Older ones may use the L&H engine, but that is going back awhile. There is almost no difference between the Speech SDK 4 and 5.I can guarantee the problem is with your microphone, and training. I can quite literally get one mispronounciation every 100 phrases. Don't speak into your microphone- put it off to the side, adjust your volume levels. Import and train the lexicons. It is important to use phrases that are phonetically correct, even if they are not spelled correctly. The English language has some odd rules. For instance, instead of "ILS" use "eye ell ess".Yes, it can be a pain in the butt, but I can assure you first handidly, that it does work very well. Remember also, you don't have to train each program- You really only have to train per user.ATC Simulator 2 uses BY FAR the most complex speech rec. phraseology of any program, and per hour long scenerio I only have to repeat myself a couple of times.If I can get it to recognize "Delta niner one six, turn left heading three five zero, cleared ILS runway three three approach, contact tower one two zero point three", then you can get it to recognize "Gear up".

[Sonar5 3]

And people can find Flight Assistant here:http://www.linder-network.de/thelindercomp...tassistant.html

[Guest monsoon]

I use a freeware program called Shoot. A bit goofy to program but when i use it for LOMAC it reads my vioce about 99% of the time. GREAT program.

[Sonar5 3]

Jimmie said:"I'm using the built-in mic of my Phillips webcam. Quality is OK but it doesn't cancel noise. Not sure I would want to spend another $50 on a microphone if that is the problem."How about $13.13 instead. Or as low as $4.96 at pcconnection.I've run quite a few informal tests using voice recognition on webcam mic's, desktop mic's, and headset mic's with voice recognition. I actually use it quite a bit and have been flying with it successfully for over a year now.You have to remember that IMHO, it is not good enough to have just a quiet room.Remember, you may have two fans running as well, CPU and vid card, as wlel as other noise your own ears cannot pick up. Keyboard keys also make noise.I would also recommend a headset, as you can buy pretty good ones for very cheap prices, and buy one that has Noise Cancelling and is made or certified for speech recognition.I use this one currently and it works pretty good for me, but YMMV.http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=4758821Or the one for $13.13http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=5417403Unfortunately, between your voice and the webcam microphone, there may be quite a bit of interference.To sample this, run the audio tests in your control panel, and read the papaya sentence several times with your head at different distances from the mic.And anyone else contemplating speech recognition, try out the Free ones and your setup before buying anything. If you don't want to put in the time to train the engine properly, then it may not be for you.If you do want to put in a bit of time, try Shoot, or Flightassistant, which are both free.I can't help you out specifically with the product you bought, but I do know quite a bit about speech recognition in general, and how to optimize a setup, as well as profiles for shoot.regards,me

[Sonar5 3]

yes it is....Shoot can be found here:http://clans.gameclubcentral.com/shoot/And you need the MS SPeech SDK here:http://download.microsoft.com/download/spe...SpeechSDK51.exeAnd the .net framework here:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&DisplayLang=en

[Guest baron58tc]

jimmig;Don't know Voice Buddy, but like rcbarend, I have been using Shoot 1.6.3 by Martin Traverso for over a year now. Would not fly without it. My fs9.xml profile is on his web site.Yes it and all others use the MS speech engine. It guides you through a training program which takes, as I remember, from 15 to 30 minutes. Don't understand your problem there.I use a Plantronics mike/headset. Can't find a model # on it but it cost about $24US. Works very well.Some of my experience:Customize your fs9.xml if using Shoot(use wordpad or similar) to suit your needs. I, for example have made all the number keys repond to "roger one, roger two, etc. This sounds a little more realistic when responding to ATC. As christianholmes stated, sometimes you have to re-spell. I had trouble with "four", so re-spelled it "fore", and it works fine.Some warnings:Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, have a conversation with anyone while you are flying. After a few friends were over and wanted to see my "flight sim thing", and sat next to me babbling away with questions, very strange things can happen, including engine shutdown. Very embarrassing. For that and the fact that some strange things occurred while flying alone, I took out any voice command that can cause nasty results. (Engine shutdown, mixture controls, etc.)(I use the CH USB yoke anyway.) I also took out "pause", and "pitot heat". as these seemed to toggle without provocation. (If I want a beer, I can hit the P key--)But then the other "p's" seem OK. I toggle the panels with "panel one", "panel two", etc. and they are rock solid. Go figure.One gets used to the "grunt" when it does'nt recognize something, and the "click" when it does. I start Shoot first, set my mike volume prior to each session from within Shoot ), minimize Shoot, then start FS2004.Hang in here--be patient. As you said, flying without constantly reaching for the keyboard brings a whole new perspective to the sim.Baron58tc

[Sonar5 3]

Good Advice, and well worth taking for anyone using Shoot.BTW - How many commands are you up to. I have almost 300 Now in one profile, and about 230 Commands in the one I currently use.Regards,Joe

[Guest baron58tc]

I guess I am a piker! I only have about 35 or so. As I said, I eliminated anything that causes strange results, but does not reduce the utility of the program. I primarily fly the Baron, or the Lear, so don't need too many. What do you do with 300, program the coffee pot? Post your profile to Martin's site so we can see it.From the posts by jimmig, appears he is using his webcam mike and external speakers (no headset?). Obviously one cannot have external speakers on, even when using a headset mike. The feedback will completely bollix the thing. Others have posted advice on ditching the webcam mike, interference, etc.Interesting how far voice recognition has evolved over the past 10 years. It now strives to capture, after training, every voice command without fail, including your own voice nuances. BUT still, when the wife sidles up beside you and announces "dinners ready", your flaps go down.OOPs-sorry. Just re-read jimmig's posts and he said he was using headphones and has low background noise. Still think he needs to get a headset mic.

[Guest daveg4otu]

Bet your bottom dollar it's the mike - tho I don't use VR of any kind with FS - I have tried it for that and other things and it works very well - 99% success - and that is using the mike from a cheap headset (about