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"Open air" and "whole home" microphones / Deployment Rationales for Whole Home Mic Systems
« on: September 13, 2014, 03:03:37 PM »
I decided to move some of my discussion here from the whole home thread I started in the mic recommendations forum now that this new sub-forum is going. Thanks to the moderators for setting this up.
Hadood and Nime5ter started a useful side discussion I've been meaning to respond to, so I'd like to pick it back up here. Just to get the discussion on track, Nime5ter's commented:
I think these observations are sound, and like James and Nim5ster I'm using multiple Android devices and laptops as controllers in my own test deployment. And while Nime5ter's point about the convenience having tablets ready to hand is well taken, in my own personal setup using an Android device as a sort of "walkie-talkie" interface with which to interact with my other devices doesn't quite satisfy Occam's razor. This is to say that in addition to voice controls, each of my Android devices already has touch controls running as home screen widgets which I can use to directly control any device in the house. Using VoxWav requires me to perform all the UI touching I would normally do with my widgets, and then on top of that I have to talk to the tablet, which adds an additional and mostly superfluous step to the process. So my desire to have an open mic system stems from a more basic desire to add new control options to augment an already working system rather than replace the old touch system with something different. So far, Vangelis's boundary mic model has great appeal for me, I'm just not able to drop wire through the walls since I'm renting, so I require either an RF or an over-the-network solution for audio input.
On a purely conceptual level, my interest in voice control is a function of my broader interest in the notion of "ubiquitous computing", which is the idea that almost everything in the built environment has a network attached computer of some sort in it or on it, which allows it to interact with most or all of the other objects in the system. In my fantasy of an an ideally implemented lifestyle automation system I should be able to operate most any device in the system using either a graphical/touch interface, a speech interface, or a combination both. Further, if done right, one mode of operation should not render another mode trivial just by dent of its existence. And while I'm fantasizing, I shouldn't have to be constantly locking and unlocking and rebooting and turning on and off and logging in and out of things all day long. I just want to be able to spontaneously get things done in whatever way makes the most sense from within the context of whatever else I happen to be doing at the moment. If my hands are full of groceries, or if I'm chopping celery, or if I'm just too lazy to go grab a tablet out of the other room, then I want to use my voice wherever I'm standing without having to drop what I'm doing. If it's late at night, or if someone is sleeping, or if a tablet is already in hand, touch controls make more sense.
Anyway I'd like to hear more from others, not just about which pieces you're all using in your VC roll-out, but also how it should all fit together in the grand scheme of your imagination.
Hadood and Nime5ter started a useful side discussion I've been meaning to respond to, so I'd like to pick it back up here. Just to get the discussion on track, Nime5ter's commented:
Quote
My own perspective is that the desire for an open-air mic solution is the main issue.
We have a few Androids (along with some Amulet remotes, some USB mics, etc.). We can, and do, use VoxWav anywhere in our 2-storey house to control VC -- it's not a problem for us because we're not trying to use our Androids as open/area mics. For us, these are a reliable, convenient, and affordable (since we're using them for multiple purposes anyhow) choice.
Someone recently asked James what kind of open mic solution he's using in the "Coming Home from Work" demo video. The answer is simple: None. Every time he's talking to the computer, he has a mobile device or Amulet in his hand. And yet it apparently seemed natural enough that someone watching the video didn't notice that.
For me, it doesn't feel inconvenient or awkward to pick up the mobile or tablet and click a button before talking, anymore than it feels inconvenient to pick up the phone to call someone or walk to the top of the stairs if I need someone to hear me at the bottom of the stairs.
Sometimes, I'll unthinkingly go "old school" and call out to James from another room to ask him to turn down the music or change the living room speakers to the outdoor speakers, etc. Then suddenly I'll think, "Why the heck am I doing that?" Wherever I am, I pick up my phone (or open Tellvox on my laptop if I'm in my office) and issue the command myself. It takes literally a few seconds, and for me, it's a million times simpler and more reliable than having to yell my command at a microphone across the room.
So, the preference to use some kind of always on hands-free open-air mic system is the main challenge.
A reliable hands-free solution seems like it would be particularly important for users with disabilities and mobility challenges, but that wouldn't necessarily have to be open-air. Whenever I think about this issue, that's the problem I am interested in finding a good solution for.
I think these observations are sound, and like James and Nim5ster I'm using multiple Android devices and laptops as controllers in my own test deployment. And while Nime5ter's point about the convenience having tablets ready to hand is well taken, in my own personal setup using an Android device as a sort of "walkie-talkie" interface with which to interact with my other devices doesn't quite satisfy Occam's razor. This is to say that in addition to voice controls, each of my Android devices already has touch controls running as home screen widgets which I can use to directly control any device in the house. Using VoxWav requires me to perform all the UI touching I would normally do with my widgets, and then on top of that I have to talk to the tablet, which adds an additional and mostly superfluous step to the process. So my desire to have an open mic system stems from a more basic desire to add new control options to augment an already working system rather than replace the old touch system with something different. So far, Vangelis's boundary mic model has great appeal for me, I'm just not able to drop wire through the walls since I'm renting, so I require either an RF or an over-the-network solution for audio input.
On a purely conceptual level, my interest in voice control is a function of my broader interest in the notion of "ubiquitous computing", which is the idea that almost everything in the built environment has a network attached computer of some sort in it or on it, which allows it to interact with most or all of the other objects in the system. In my fantasy of an an ideally implemented lifestyle automation system I should be able to operate most any device in the system using either a graphical/touch interface, a speech interface, or a combination both. Further, if done right, one mode of operation should not render another mode trivial just by dent of its existence. And while I'm fantasizing, I shouldn't have to be constantly locking and unlocking and rebooting and turning on and off and logging in and out of things all day long. I just want to be able to spontaneously get things done in whatever way makes the most sense from within the context of whatever else I happen to be doing at the moment. If my hands are full of groceries, or if I'm chopping celery, or if I'm just too lazy to go grab a tablet out of the other room, then I want to use my voice wherever I'm standing without having to drop what I'm doing. If it's late at night, or if someone is sleeping, or if a tablet is already in hand, touch controls make more sense.
Anyway I'd like to hear more from others, not just about which pieces you're all using in your VC roll-out, but also how it should all fit together in the grand scheme of your imagination.