Easy Voice Control for MediaMonkey

[jitterjames]

I have developed a 3rd party application for controlling MediaMonkey using speech recognition. it is Extremely easy to set up and use.

The program is called VoxCommando. It can do a lot of other stuff as well, but the following link will take you to a version designed to make setup for MediaMonkey users as easy as possible. (5 minutes - no install required)

http://voxcommando.com/downloadMM.asp

This page above provides simple instructions, a downloadable file and a video tutorial that demonstrates how to use the program.

I am not sure that this is the best place to post this. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but I think potentially a lot of MediaMonkey users would be interested in this.

If there is a more appropriate place to post this, or a place where interested people would be more likely to find it, I am happy to receive any advice on the subject.

Long live Media Monkey!

[rovingcowboy]

sounds like it could be a handy app for mediamonkey and people that can't use the mouse or have to use a mouth control wand because of them having no control over their arms.

smart idea and glad you made it for mediamonkey.

[jitterjames]

It is also handy when you are washing the dishes

[painy]

A must have!

Perfect for listening to music when not near your keyboard (when reading a book or whatever).
I even use it when working on the computer despite my keyboard having audio hotkeys.

If you got a good mic, use the prefix mode and have a loud enough voice, voxcommando even understands the commands when the volume of your music is pretty high.

Also great for impressing your friends.

Does a lot of other stuff for controlling your pc as well

[Dreadlau]

Hello will this work on a French install of Windows7?

[jitterjames]

Yes. There are people using it in English, French, German, and Portuguese (but the Portuguese is running on an English or Spanish version of windows)

Here's a thread started by a French user (Archizor) who is using it to control XBMC and some other stuff via EventGhost.
http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?topic=96.0

If most of your media (songs movies etc) are English, then you may be better off running with an English language pack.

Watch the tutorial on the download page to get an idea how to customize the commands to use French phrases, or ask Archizor for help on the forum. He has also written quite a thorough tutorial in French for VoxCommando and XBMC.

Trying to use multiple languages at once is a bit tricky, but if you use French commands and have lots of French media it won't be a problem. Obviously it is easier for English speakers because so much of the media out there has english titles.

[nb]

Just thought I'd comment from a user perspective. I recently installed the 'VoxCommando for dummies' version preconfigured to work with MediaMonkey. The installation and set-up really did take just a few minutes; the instructions made this very straightforward.

I did have to make sure my microphone was hearing me properly (I didn't have to train it, but just adjust levels), but once I did that Vox's voice control commands for MediaMonkey worked instantly. It's honestly weirdly exciting to have your computer respond to 'natural language commands' like that, I must say.

It took a bit longer to figure out how to add my own customized commands to the preset options, but that is also fairly intuitive, especially after watching it done in the tutorial videos.

Full disclosure: I know the developer of VoxCommando and he asked me to test the MediaMonkey version to see if it would be accessible to non-programmers. It is. And while for me it's just fun, I can definitely imagine scenarios where having this kind of functionality would help to address accessibility issues.

[trixmoto]

I wish I had a better microphone, the one on my webcam is just not good enough to run this app. It was very easy to install and fun to shout at for a few minutes though, I blame the appalling mic entirely!

[jitterjames]

you may have a dud microphone, or it may just be a case of setting it up correctly. Most open air microphone won't work very well from more than 3 feet away. Often shouting will make things worse, not better.

If you are motivated to get it to work, run the MS speech setup of your microphone from the MS speech control panel, and then do a session of "training" it to understand you better.


There is a sound meter in VoxCommando (bottom of main window), ideally it should be peaking at less than 1/2 way up the meter. Higher than that and you probably have your mic set too loud and are getting distortion.


Also, depending on your microphone, playing with the "enhanced settings" can often make a big improvement. For some people, turning off noise suppression can actually make a big improvement. Acoustic echo cancellation can also help if you are playing music, as it should remove the sound going out from the sound coming in. (at least in theory).


I have tried many different microphones and I have been able to get good results with almost all of them, with the exception of most built-in laptop microphones, and any bluetooth headsets. Bluetooth headsets are NO GOOD!

[trixmoto]

Yeah, I tried both of those things and couldn't get the sound to go about about 1/8th, despite setting the mic to maximum gain. I might give it another go though, or buy a proper mic!

[jitterjames]

there is some discussion of microphones here, in case you are interested:
http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?board=8.0

btw Trixmoto, I know you make some very nice MM scripts. This is slightly off topic, but do you know if there is a way that I can call scripts from the com api for MM? The only current method that I know of is to use global keypresses and keyboard emulation. Yuck! I would love to be able to call scripts from VoxCommando.

[trixmoto]

Thanks I've run scripts from scripts before, by running it command-line style. I'm not sure if that helps you or not then.

[jitterjames]

that could work. I'll try it...

mmm. I'm not sure I'm understanding. Are you talking about calling an exteranl vbs script?

I'm thinking more like running a script to randomize the playlist or something. I don't see a command line option to call a script within MM.

[sirandar]

Works pretty well in my hands but there is a huge catch22.

You tell MM to play and it does, but the music playing makes further commands impossible ..... then the music itself starts activating all sorts of things on your computer.

[jitterjames]

I'm sorry you found that to be the case, but I hope that you will not discourage others from trying it for themselves. There are number of things that you can do to avoid this problem, but ultimately, depending on your hardware, budget, and the volume that you listen to your music at, it may not be practical for everyone.

Things you can try:

#1 solution: use a noise cancelling headset microphone instead of an "open air" mic.

...otherwise you can try the following:

- use an array microphone (most are expensive but the ps3eye is affordable and not bad)
- move the microphone further from your speakers and make sure they are not pointed towards your speakers
- move the microphone closer to where you sit
- lower the input level on the microphone
- enable acoustic echo cancellation (some users have had very good results with this)
- use VoxCommando's prefix mode, where every command must be preceded by a word or phrase of your choosing. If you set the prefix to be "monkey" then you will need to say commands like "monkey play", "monkey next song", "monkey play artist Beck" etc. In most cases this will eliminate virtually all accidental commands. Longer prefixes work better to avoid accidental triggering.
- use a one button remote technique where pressing a button reduces or mutes your sound, and tells VC to listen. After a single command is recognized the volume is restored and VC stops listening.