Voice Control of Computer

Voice Control

Summary

One of my lawyer clients, a quadriplegic, needs voice control of his telephone. He is already expert at using Dragon Dictate for navigating around Windows NT Workstation, Word 97, Outlook 98, Internet Explorer - all by voice control. A number of macros have been created for Dragon Dictate that look up a name in Outlook and dial the phone by modem. A Visual Basic program was developed to allow Dragon Dictate macros to control an X-10 module that turns a speaker phone on and off.

Solution

Buried in the ActiveHome software folder is a module, X10COMM.EXE, which uses the following syntax:

x10comm address command

I've written a very simple Visual Basic (v5) user interface to simulate a handheld RF remote (see the screen form) to control eight X-10 units on a house code. This program is an on-screen version of a hand-held X-10 remote control interface, such as the Home Automation Remote Control, Model HR12A, by X-10 PowerHouse. It uses the X10COMM.EXE command-line program that is a part of the ActiveHome software package provided with the CM11A Computer Interface.

Dragon Dictate Macros

Two sets of macros were developed. The first set are the more basic ones - "Answer Phone", "Hang up phone", and some Outlook speed dialer helpers. The second set are tailored to work with the Outlook contact list.

Operation

The on-screen window contains eight (8) sets of ON / OFF buttons. A name or description can be filled in for each of the units being controlled. A drop-down list at the top selects one of the 16 available house codes. When the Close button is clicked the House Code, the eight unit descriptions, and the current window position are saved in the Registry. These values are restored/reused the next time the program is activated.

Screen Form

Download

This is a Visual Basic (version 5) program, X10CTRL.EXE, which provides a shell for activating the X10COMM.EXE command-line program provided with the ActiveHome software package. Dragon Dictate macros use the on-screen buttons to control modules 1 through 8 on a single selected house code (A through P). There is another version that has buttons for all 16 unit codes on the selected house code, with a one page description.

Configuration

Remember that the voice controlled telephone described here is only a part of a more comprehensive voice controlled computer system to support a law practice. The additional hardware to control the telephone is inexpensive - about $55. My client's computer is a DELL Pentium II 350, but a Celeron-based computer should be fine.

CM11A Computer Interface

Available for $30 plus shipping from www.smarthome.com (for some reason, www.x10.com won't sell the interface alone). The catalog price is $45, but the web site often has discounts.

ActiveHome Software

This is a Windows-based program (works fine with NT 4.0, SP5) for controlling a house full of X-10 modules using the CM11A Computer Interface.

Dragon Dictate for Windows

The KING! I wish Dragon Systems would add voice control to the NaturallySpeaking product, which I use. The Dragon Dictate Classic edition (NECX price is $82) should be adequate for this use. The Dragon Dictate Professional edition is $450 basically for an expanded active vocabulary and documentation for the macro language. Why do vendors seeking developers, charge those developers big bucks to learn their peculiarly arbitrary and proprietary macro language? It makes no sense to me.