Astra Blaster/Astra.cdr/voice/hearsay9.txt

Text File | 1992-04-09 | 17KB | 410 lines

                     HEARSAY TEXT-TO-SPEECH

                           APPENDICES

                        TABLE OF CONTENTS

     APPENDIX A
          SAMPLE DICTIONARY SESSION

     APPENDIX B
          HEARSAY PHONEMES

     APPENDIX C
          READ SCREEN COMMANDS

     APPENDIX D
          HEARSAY SETUP COMMANDS

     APPENDIX E
          SCREEN COLOR CODES

     APPENDIX F
          GENERAL INFORMATION

     APPENDIX G
          TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE


     APPENDIX A SAMPLE DICTIONARY SESSION

     Let us look at an example of how a dictionary file can be used. Suppose we
had a program that used the  abbreviation "Mr."  a lot by placing "Mr."  in the
dictionary,  Hearsay Gold can be  trained to say "MISTER"  instead of trying to
say "MR". The following procedure will show how to create a dictionary  file to
accomplish this.

     1. Reboot computer to be sure Hearsay is not installed (CTRL-ALT-DELETE or
        turn it off then on again) and  bring up the DOS prompt  (>A: or >C: as
        is appropriate  for your system). Insert the  Hearsay program disk into
        drive A  (If your DOS  prompt is >A:)  or  (If your DOS  prompt is >C:)
        change directories to your Hearsay directory.

     2. Type SPEECHV2  [ENTER] or  SPEECHV3 [ENTER]  (As  appropriate  for your
        installation) and wait for the DOS prompt to return.

     3. Type SP-EDIT [ENTER].

     4. Respond to  the Version  prompt by  indicating  whether  you are  using
        Version 2 or Version 3.

     5. Enter your port assignment and press [ENTER].

     6. If adding to an existing dictionary,  press F7 to load the dictionary &
        enter the drive and  path for the dictionary  to be added to if it does
        not already appear on the  screen. Then  use the  cursor to  select the
        dictionary file and press [ENTER].

     7. When the Speech Editor menu comes up, press F1 to enter the WORD window.

     8. Type "MISTER".

     9. Press F2 to convert the word into the appropriate phonomes.

    10. Press F4 to hear the phonemes.  If it does not sound right to you, then
        edit the phonemes  using [F3] until  it sounds the  way you want it to.

    11. Press F5  to add  these phonemes  to the  dictionary. Enter  [MR.] when
        asked for the the name of the word. Now "Mr." is in the dictionary with
        the phonemes for "MISTER".

    12. Press F3 [CTRL-HOME] to clear the phoneme window.

    13. Press F1 [CTRL-HOME] to clear the word window.

    14. Type "MR." F2

    15. Press F4 to hear how it sounds. If it does not sound right, re-edit the
        phonemes with [F3] or press F6 [*] [ENTER] [Y] to erase the dictionary,
        press F3 [CTRL-HOME] to clear  the phoneme window, press F1 [CTRL-HOME]
        to clear the word window, and go back to step 7.

    16. To save the dictionary,  insert a formatted disk into the disk drive if
        saving to floppy disk, then press F8. If saving to the hard drive press
        F8, & enter the drive path name, then press [ENTER].  Enter a filename.

    17. To exit the editor, press [CTRL-F1], Y.

    18. To load the dictionary into the Hearsay Gold's memory, first reboot the
        computer and then install Hearsay,  then insert the disk containing the
        dictionary file into the disk drive.

    19. Press the [ALT]+HEARSAY key to bring up the Hearsay Main Menu.

    20. If "F7 - Return When DOS Is Not Busy" is displayed on the Hearsay menu,
        press F7 and [Y] and wait for DOS to be ready.

    21. When the Hearsay Menu returns, press F6, F5.

    22. Enter the name of your dictionary file & press [ENTER]. Your dictionary
        is now loaded.

     The same procedure can be used to add any word,  phrase or initials to the
dictionary.

     APPENDIX B HEARSAY PHONEMES

          EY     Long "a" as in "ace"
          IY     Long "e" as in "be"
          AY     Long "i" as in "ice"
          OW     Long "o" as in "dose"
          UW     Long "u" as in "lute"
          AE     Short "a" as in "last"
          EH     Short "e" as in "best"
          IH     Short "i" as in "fit"
          AA     Short "o" as in "cot"
          AH     Short "u" as in "up"
          AO     Intermediate "o" as in "caught"
          AW     Dipthong in "loud"
          OY     Dipthong in "noise"
          AX     "ai" sound as in "against"
          UH     "u" sound as in "book"
          ER     "ur" in "further" or, "er" in further"
          CH     "chin"
          b      "bin"
          d      "din"
          f      "fin"
          g      "given"
          h      "hit"
          j      "gin"
          k      "kin"
          l      "light"
          m      "might"
          n      "night"
          NG     "sing"
          p      "pin"
          r      "rate"
          s      "sin"
          SH     "shin"
          t      "tin"
          TH     "thin"
          DH     "them"
          v      "vim"
          w      "wait"
          WH     "which"
          y      "yet"
          z      "zen"
          ZH     "z" as in "pleasure"

     VERSION 3 (ONLY) COMMANDS

          IX     Short duration between IH and AX ("i" in "David")
          DX     Intervocalic "t" ("butter")
          KX     Non-aspirated "K" ("ice-cold")

     APPENDIX C READ SCREEN COMMANDS

     [F1] - Read and speak screen, starting at Hearsay cursor
     [F2] - Read and speak line Hearsay cursor is on
     [F3] - Read and speak word Hearsay cursor is on
     [SHIFT-F3] - Speak word Hearsay cursor is on, move on to next word
     [F4] - Read and speak letters of word Hearsay cursoe is on
     [F5] - Read and speak character Hearsay cursor is on
     [F6] - Speak location of Hearsay cursor
     [F7] - Move Hearsay cursor to next word
     [PAGE UP] - Hearsay cursor up 6 lines
     [PAGE DOWN] - Hearsay cursor down 6 lines
     [HOME] - Hearsay cursor to line 1, column 1
     [END] - Hearsay cursor to line 15, column 1
     [UP ARROW] - Hearsay cursor up 1 line
     [DOWN ARROW] - Hearsay cursor down 1 line
     [RIGHT ARROW] - Hearsay cursor right 1 character
     [LEFT ARROW] - Hearsay cursor left 1 character
     [CTRL-LEFT ARROW] - Hearsay cursor to beginning of line

     APPENDIX D HEARSAY SETUP COMMANDS

     Bracketed commands are optional
     NOTE: Do not use brackets in set up string.

COMMAND DESCRIPTION

     /B [R] [G] [B]  Set the menu  background color.  By using a combination of
R (red) G (green) and B (blue) you can set the background  color to any 1 of 8.

     /C [+] [R] [G] [B] Set the menu character color. By using a combination of
R (red) G (green) B (blue) and + (intensity)  you can set  the background color
to any one of sixteen colors.

     /Hn Set the Hearsay Key where n is the scan code of the key

     /K Enable keyboard echo

     /Vn Specify Hearsay version to use, where n is the version number.  If not
specified, Hearsay will  default to Version 2 for IBM PC/XT'S  and compatibles,
Version 3 for IBM AT'S and compatibles.

     /S [P] [L] [filename] Enable Screen Echo. P option will enable punctuation
The L option will  enable line mode.  Giving a filename will  load a dictionary
file from disk.

     /M [C] [S] [K] Set menu help level.  C option will cause  Hearsay to speak
the menus, S will speak the status, & K will speak the keys as they are struck.
(/M alone will have no effect.)

     /W [t], [b], [m] Set Screen Echo Window. [t] is the top row number, [b] is
the bottom row number, [m] is the mode switch (+ or -). "+" will only speak the
text printed inside the window, "-" will only speak text printed outside window

     HEARSAY/X  Unhooks Hearsay and  all RAM reserved  as well as  hooks to the
MSDOS Operating System.

     APPENDIX E SCREEN COLOR CODES

          CODE          COLOR

          (blank)       Black
          R             Red
          G             Green
          B             Blue
          RG            Brown
          GB            Cyan
          RB            Magenta
          RGB           Light Gray
          +             Dark Gray
          +R            Light Red
          +G            Light Green
          +B            Light Blue
          +RG           Yellow
          +GB           Light Cyan
          +RB           Light Magenta
          +RGB          White

     APPENDIX F GENERAL INFORMATION

          HOW TO USE THE PC INTERFACE

     This section  provides technical  information for  users who  have special
interface problems or wish to connect their own microphones, speakers, or other
equipment to the Hearsay  Gold board. The first section describes the interface
between the Hearsay  Gold and the IBM PC bus. The second  section describes the
audio input and output specifications.

          PC INTERFACE

     The Hearsay Gold circuit board is mapped into the IBM PC I/O bus at one of
sixteen port addresses.  If you are  using a game  interface or  another option
board that is also mapped to  any of these I/O addresses  that the Hearsay Gold
is set to, it will not operate properly.

         PORT SWITCHES

     The PORT switches on the Hearsay board  must be set to  values that do not
conflict with other devices you  are using for your PC. The  Interrupt switches
are for future expansion  and should all be set to OFF.  We recommend  that you
first try  setting the PORT  switches to 34  (3 and 4 ON,  and the others OFF).

     Every device used by the IBM PC has a port assignment,  & the Hearsay Gold
must be assigned to one that is not used by any other device.

     As shown in the  following table,  only the  last three ports  are used in
normal operation, and add-on devices usually use lower numbered port addresses.
We have been unable to find any other device using PORT ADDRESSES 0390 and 0397
which is selected by a port setting of 34 (3 and 4 ON) & 1 and 2 OFF),  so this
setting will probably work with your PC.

     If you find these  settings do not work,  the tables below  show the other
possible port combinations,  and any of them  will work as long  as they do not
conflict with other devices you are using.

          PORT SWTICHES

     SW-4     SW-3     SW-2     SW-1     PORT ADDRESS   USE

     OFF      OFF      OFF      OFF      0210-0217
     OFF      OFF      OFF      ON       0230-0237
     OFF      OFF      ON       OFF      0250-0257
     OFF      OFF      ON       ON       0270-0277
     OFF      ON       OFF      ON       0290-0297
     OFF      ON       ON       OFF      02B0-02B7
     OFF      ON       ON       ON       02D0-02D7
     ON       OFF      OFF      OFF      0330-0337
     ON       OFF      OFF      ON       0350-0357
     ON       OFF      ON       OFF      0370-0377
     ON       ON       OFF      OFF      0390-0397
     ON       ON       OFF      ON       03B0-03B7      Monochrome Display Card
     ON       ON       ON       OFF      03D0-03D7      Color / Graphics Card
     ON       ON       ON       ON       03F0-03F7      Diskette Controller

          INTERFACING MICROPHONES AND SPEAKERS

     The microphone  connection is  the ring  (Center) of the  mini stereo plug
that plugs into the mini  stereo jack located on the back panel of  the Hearsay
Gold board.  The speaker connection is the  tip and the base  is ground to both
microphone and speaker. The mini stereo jack is designed to mate with  standard
mini stereo plugs such as the ones used for the headphones of personal stereos.

     Most powered personal stereo extension speakers can be used  directly with
Hearsay Gold by plugging them into a stereo to  dual mono adapter. Particularly
useful are the ones that have individual  volume controls on the speakers.  The
audio jack will only play through one of the speakers.  The speaker output jack
is also compatible  with any  speaker designed for  use with a  mini phone plug
output such as found on  inexpensive cassette recorders  although the volume is
relatively low without additional amplification.

NOTE: We do  not recommend  that you wire  your own interfaces  for the Hearsay
      Gold unless you are experienced  in electronics  design and  construction
      techniques. Of course we can not be responsible for the results or damage
      of any such interface.

          PLUG CONNECTIONS

     The headphone and speaker jack are wired as follows:

     The tip of the plug to the positive (+) speaker connection.
     The ring of the plug (Center) to the positive (+) microphone connection.
     The base of the plug (Section of shaft closest to body of plug & cable),
         to the speaker ground & the microphone ground.

          MICROPHONE INPUT SPECIFICATIONS

     Type Electret, close talking, noise cancelling
     Pickup pattern Cardoid (Unidirectional)
     Impedance load (Nominally 150 ohms)
     Open circuit voltage = -47.0 db (4.5 mv)
     Power level = -66.0 db
     Frequency response 200 Hz - 5,000 Hz

NOTE: The microphone cable must be shielded.

          SPEAKER OUTPUT SPECIFICATIONS

     Impedance 8 ohms
     Power output 500 Mw

     APPENDIX G TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE

     INSTALLATION PROBLEMS

     To install the Hearsay,  it is necessary  to install the  Hearsay board in
your PC, connect the headset and load  the software.  Installation instructions
are provided in Book I.

     Once the board and headset are installed, you can test them by running the
following test programs.

STEP ACTION

     1. Type CD\Hearsay

     2. Type RECOGTST

     3. Follow the appropriate prompts

     If Hearsay does not work, check for the following problems:

     1. Wrong Program or Insufficient Memory  -  Voice Recognition requires 80K
        with HSR, 120K with HSRE; speech synthesis requires 160K for  Version 2
        and 210K for Version 3 beyond what your other software uses.

     2. Incorrect Board Installation/Switch Settings - Turn off your PC (Unplug
        the monitor and anything else that is plugged into electric (AC power))
        open it up again, & check that the Hearsay board is properly installed.
        Take it out of the slot and check that the port switch is set properly.
        Put the board in again,  making sure  it is in straight.  Make sure the
        headset is plugged into the back of the Hearsay board. Put it  all back
        together, turn it on again and try the test programs again.

     3. Conflicting Port Assignments - See Appendix F for an explanation of the
        port assignments. If you are using the port assignments described above
        for something else,  you will get a conflict and Hearsay will not work.
        If you have other devices connected to your PC that  might be causing a
        problem,  try changing  the port  switch settings  to one  of the other
        values shown as described in APPENDIX F.

     4. Defective Board or Software  -  The Hearsay  hardware and  software are
        quality tested before shipment, but defects are still possible. If your
        Hearsay package is defective,  call the Customer  Service Department at
        [phone] from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm  Eastern time, Monday to Friday.

          OTHER PROBLEMS

     There are  two basic  types of  problems you  may encounter after you have
successfully installed Hearsay. They are:

          Hearsay no longer does something it used to do.

                             or

       Hearsay does not do something you think it should do

     If it used to work but now it does not,  check your software first.  Could
it have been  damaged in some way?  Assuming you made backup diskettes when you
first received  the product  and  saved  the  originals  (As  directed  in  the
instructions) you can check this easily. If you are using Hearsay software from
a CD-ROM, just reinstall it. CD-ROM software  is virtually impossible to erase.

     DO NOT TRY TO RUN HEARSAY FROM THE ORIGINAL DISKETTES. If you are having a
problem with your PC, it  is possible that  it is damaging your software.  Make
another copy of your original diskettes and run those.

     If reloading the  software does not help,  look for what has changed.  Did
you add another  device to your PC that may have conflicting  port assignments?

     If your board or  headset is damaged,  they can be  returned to the vendor
you bought them  from for exchange.  If you can not find the  trouble yourself,
you can call Hearsay Customer Service for assistance.

     If it doe not do what you think it should, consult the manual. Maybe it is
working it is supposed to. Again, if you have read the manual and you still can
not find the answer, Customer Service will be glad to help you out.