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[Hollon67]

Okay, I'm a newbie, and yes I used your search.  But here's my problem.  I'm a quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury.  So needless to say my dexterity isn't what it used to be.  Through the years I've set myself up a pretty self-contained computer.  I have a trackball, and a voice-recognition program that works pretty good.  The one thing that has been a problem for me is controlling my television and DVD player.  I've went through many InVoca voice activated remote controls.  I've always hated shouting at the device.  Half the time it doesn't recognize commands at all.  From what I've read here is the X10 may be what I need.  If it does what you say I'll never even have to leave my room.  My wife will thank you.  She's pretty much resigned to the fact that it's easier just to come in and change the channel, rather than listen to my screaming.  Hollon67

[glt]

Hollon67,

Welcome to the board!

While X10 is inexpensive and an excellent way to control lights and appliances through remotes. the computer and even through voice (using Bill's X10 voice commander found on this board), I don't think that there is any way to control IR (for DVD and TV) through AHP.

I do control my X10 and IR equipment through voice using a program called Homeseer and a piece of equipment called an Ocelot that I use for IR. It works pretty well (but not perfect) and uses XP's built in voice recognition program (as does Bill's). See my posts here for how i use RS intercoms to hear my voice.

Unfortunately this is not cheap. I would guess a minimum of $500 to get set up plus the cost of the pc that runs the programs full time (never off) - maybe more!

There may be cheaper options. May i suggest you make the same post over at www.cocoontech.com in the home automation section for some very talented help.

So the good news is you should be able to control almost everything in your house using your voice (excluding your wife - see WAF), the bad news is the more you do the more it costs, and I haven't yet seen a plug and play system that works without any tweaking. You'll probably need a tech oriented friend to help w/ the setup. But again -ask at cocoon - smarter people than me there (and here)!

Good Luck,

GLT

[Hollon67]

Thanks, I find it really hard to believe with today's technology that something like a infrared remote for a PC hasn't got something that comes right out of the box and programmable like the InVoca voice remote.  Like I said, I do more shouting at it more than I changed the channel on the TV.  So if somebody comes up with the idea, remember you heard it here first!  So for now the wife will still be my first choice for the task.

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Hollon67,

If you wouldn't mind, please check out BXVC at: Bill's X10 Voice Commander Home Page and let me know what you think and if it plays well alongside your present voice recognition software.

If you can make BXVC work for you and you buy Active Home Pro and some X10 modules, you will already be able to control lights and such by voice.

My next project (and I mean right now) is to track down an infrared interface and add support to voice-control it in BXVC.  I'm not sure how long that will take, but as soon as I can figure it out, BXVC will be able to do just what you are asking.

For more information about BXVC, see the thread topic on this forum: BXVC (Bill's X10 Voice Commander)

Although I wrote BXVC as a personal experiment and later made it available to the general public, one of my highest aspirations for it is to help people with limited or no mobility!

So, please help me to help you and others by doing some testing with me.

[glt]

Bill - check your paypal account.

Sorry it's not more.

Obviously you want to go with a VERY low cost solution. X10 stuff is as cheap as it gets. Guy Lavoie hangs around cocoontech.com and the ADI ocelot forums - he KNOWS what will work and what is cheap. Good source. Tell him Jon said he should help ?? (I'm not Jon.)


Hollon67:

Yeah, you would think so, do you want to help make one? (a solution that is) Maybe NEXT time there will be one waiting for the people that need it. The hard part is understanding the objectives - the rest is just (very tedious) code (and hard work).

I in no way meant that it is so hard that you shouldn't try. If you live in a town near a HA enthuisast (one from either here or cocoontech.com) then someone would probably enjoy assisting you in a good HA setup.


Everyone else:

I have posted before at board.homesser.com and at http://www.automatedliving.com/phpbb2/ about using HA for the mobility limited and the lack of response is astounding. While HA is fun and a hobby for most of us, it's potential to help others is unlimited. One of my best days is when I fought an elderly diabetic amputee neighbor by installing a TM751 and an old palmpad. She was so worried that it would somehow mess up her power and exclaimed "I don't like like this technology stuff and just because you do, doesn't mean you should force it on people".

I said, "Look, it's already plugged in and just give it a couple of days - if you don't like it - I'll take it out".

Long story short (and a couple of appliance modules later) "I love this stuff and you are NOT getting it back, GOT THAT?"

 

We, as a community, can do better. Bill has already voluntered. I'm sure that Hollon will help with the testing. This is an appropriate forum because cost is an object for most and X10 is cheap (even if you have to go to EBay.) Mods?

Off the soapbox now. Sorry,

GLT

[Hollon67]

I think I may have found something that might be worth throwing a hundred bucks at.  But I can't find any testimonials from other customers.  The product is called Innotech Spitfire.  I just hope I won't be wasting my money because I don't have any good reviews.  It must be pretty new because I haven't ran across it before this morning.  I've been spending $80 a pop for my InVoca remotes and I've been through the last three versions.  Thanks to everybody for what info you gave me.  I'll let you know whether or not it's a keeper.

[glt]

Hollon,

I've done no real comparison - but I think this is supported by a lot of HA programs:

http://www.usbuirt.com/order.htm

Bill -seeems like a good choice -$50.

GLT

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

GLT,

Bill - check your paypal account.

Sorry it's not more.

"Sorry it's not more." 
Not to "look a gift horse in the mouth", but I'll be emailing the account you used with PayPal just to be perfectly sure you intended to donate that much!   

One of my best days is when I fought an elderly diabetic amputee neighbor by installing a TM751 and an old palmpad. She was so worried that it would somehow mess up her power and exclaimed "I don't like like this technology stuff and just because you do, doesn't mean you should force it on people".

I said, "Look, it's already plugged in and just give it a couple of days - if you don't like it - I'll take it out".

Long story short (and a couple of appliance modules later) "I love this stuff and you are NOT getting it back, GOT THAT?"

 

Sounds like my wife!  She didn't gripe too much about the money I spent on these "X10 toys" (have to love her for that!), but she really didn't "get it".  Now, she can't believe she lived without it for so long!     (she really wants the IR control too)  You see, she suffers from mild Cerebral Palsy and some bone and hip growth problems that mainly make it difficult for her to walk without keeping a hand on the wall or furniture.  She is a trooper and gets irritated both about her disability and at people who treat her as disabled.  But, she really does appreciate what X10 and BXVC can do for her.   

Hollon,

I've done no real comparison - but I think this is supported by a lot of HA programs:

http://www.usbuirt.com/order.htm

Bill -seeems like a good choice -$50.

GLT

Yes, the USB UIRT is on the top of a very small list of IR transceivers I've found out about (mostly due to the exceptionally cheap price    ) and if it's not too difficult to write code for, will probably be the first one BXVC supports.

The Innotech Spitfire III looks somewhat promising, but costs almost three times as much! 

I have also considered devices from IR Trans but again the price is about three times as much (especially if you add in shipping) and even more for the (drool!) Ethernet / LAN connected devices!  (maybe later)   

Holon67,

I wish you the best of luck with the Spitfire, but I still hope you will consider trying out BXVC.  The more people who test it, the better it gets.  I do my best, but the users have suggested so much that I might never have thought of!  You don't need to spend any money to try BXVC.  It will respond in every way (except actually triggering X10 modules) without buying AHP or any other software or hardware.