Ideas for virtual voice checklists?

[Kenjiro75 59]

I was wondering if there is any external software available (it might be even not MSFS-related), where you could create your own aircraft checklists, and then in sim - using a shortcut key - its individual items would be read aloud? That would be a great tool to get rid of paper checklists (which I am still a fan of) and increase the immersion a bit. Such e-checklists could be then edited to add/remove items as you wish. Perhaps someone found such software already? (I was even thinking to find an app on my Android-based phone). The idea was born in my head when I read about the A320 FS2CREW software, but their checklists cannot be edited and adjusted to one's own requirements.

Cheers!

[Stoopy 1,571]

I think the challenge will be the interactive part.  Voice Attack might do a great job with this if it were scripted properly, and offer the benefit of being a completely audible solution via your headset and mic without using shortcut keys or joystick buttons. It would be able to listen for you to say "Check" after it narrates each checklist item before moving on to calling out the next item using its native text-to-speech capability.  You could trigger it for each specific checklist simply by saying "start takeoff checklist", "start landing checklist" etc.  

I use it for something similar in Il-2 to automate the startup procedure for each aircraft by saying "Fire up the Aeroplane", after which it executes a timed series of keyboard commands to set mixture, prop, start the engine, set cowl flaps, etc.   After rotating on takeoff I then ask it to "Clean up the Aeroplane", and never get tired of hearing the female voice say "Go get 'em Stoopy" when it confirms that the gear and flaps on my P-47 are raised. 🙂

You can do the reverse by just asking it to narrate each item in the checklist you define, then have it listen for you to say "Check" after you manually execute the checklist item, before it then moves on to reading out the next checklist item, etc.  

This is a pretty cool idea methinks and I'm tempted to try my hand at scripting it, but it would have to wait until I am finished with my current project, so I'd encourage you to take a look at this method.  Voice Attack is very powerful but also surprisingly easy and fun to learn to script, so taking a few days to get to know it is well worth the effort. It's also shockingly inexpensive at a paltry $10.  Actually the more I think about it the more excited I am about the concept.

🍺🤙

Edited January 6, 2021 by Stoopy

[JacquesBrel 639]

Multi-Crew Experience supports interactive checklists (among a *lot* of other features), and it has been MFS-compatible for a while. There's a time-limited demo you can try: http://www.multicrewxp.com/Downloads.html

I have used it for P3D and its interface is pretty ancient, but since it is meant to be used with voice interaction you don't really use the interface much.