ISAAC


Project Description

ISAAC (Integrated Speech Activated Application Control) is a technology feasibility prototype which explores capabilities in the low-weight, low-energy area assuming two types of communication infrastructure (i.e., sparse and dense). ISAAC uses speech for communicating with infrastructure in special rooms around campus. A wireless microphone transmits analog speech to a speech recognition system on a workstation in the corner of the room. The workstation controls devices through infrared repeaters. The workstation also communicates with the user via an infrared wireless headset. The user can read electronic mail or control the presentation (e.g., VCR, slide projector, etc.) using audio input/output.

Our goal is to provide users with hands-free control of common office systems from anywhere in an office building. We foresee interaction with a wide variety of applications (including e-mail, multi-media presentation control, and World Wide Web browsing) all mediated via speech and a wearable computer.

ISAAC is a voice activated/speech response system. ISSAC uses a wireless microphone for input to a stationary computer, speech recognition to determine the request, IR and IR extenders for remote control of devices, and speech synthesis delivered over IR to a headset for output. The wireless link is constructed using an infrared transmitter, which alone is normally short ranged (within 2 meters), but when used in conjunction with infrared extenders the range is extended to around 25 meters. The transmitting extenders convert the infrared signal to an RF signal while the receiving extender reverses the process. ISSAC weights less than a pound a consumes less than one watt of power.

The wearable unit is a self-contained, lightweight, and hands-free unit, allowing the user to freely roam around the office. The base computer is located at a fixed location in the office and provides a speech-based interface (recognition and synthesis) to the user. Real-time, two-way audio communication between the wearable unit and the base computer enables the user to operate office systems from anywhere within reach of the "audio tether." This might resemble the StarTrek model in which the user wears a communicator badge (the wearable unit) and interacts with the ship computer (the base computer) by speaking through the badge.


Last updated on 19 July 1997