New questions for the new project, Michael -

Are we leaving the screensaver format with this one?

Are you proposing to the fill the screen with an expressive face which responds to the matrix's inner state?

Will sound (the speech recognition engine?) be the soul input to the matrix?

What is the speech recognition engine "recognising"? I mean speech recognition conventionally converts speech into text. What's speech being converted into here?

Most importantly, will facial expression be the soul output, or is there some possibility of speech (or, at the least, sound mimicry)?

"soul input..."
"soul output..." :-D

Hey Matt, I'm on "tour" right now (no email responses 'till next week btw for people who have sent mail to qflux), but some quick responses from somewhere in Montana.

What I'm coding is this...I have successfully integrated the Microsoft SAPI5 with the VIM, which is their new speech synthesis and recognition system included with Windows XP and installable on other versions. I'm feeling these days that language is going to be the key method for the VIM to express its intellect. So the first stage will be a stand-alone program in which the VIM will read to you...VIReader. The graphics is a very realistic version of the female characters face, which will morph to the sounds spoken (text-to-speech) of a file you load. The role of the matrix will be to set the expression to the text; the eyebrows, mouth and head movements responding to the content of the text. That is about 50% done. Then, the goal will be to have the VIM, after extensive training of a large matrix (done by reading many books and dialogs), respond on its own to sentences you type, speaking back it's own responses to your dialog. Then using the ms voice recognition enable the system for two-way verbal communication. Finally, by linking matrixes that different people train, we'll have a full-fledged machine intelligence. So like Max Headroom crossed with HAL.

Oh thats all fine and good, but I want to go on a tour too.
Next time lets print out some qflux t-shirts, with a pencil/ruler pocket and we'll all come with you as your diciples.
It's an M.C-Fanclub item. (one of many to come)

StickyX2 mugs to the people !

I wonder... If Vim sees things by contrast, would it be able to see things instead as distance ? How would that affect things.

Hoping that you get to set up that lab, Michael (although we wouldn't want it taking up valuable VIM coding time... :-b ).

Glad to hear that VIReader is coming along. I'm baffled as to how it can facially respond to the content of the text unless there is some way to train it as to the meaning. Can you clarify this?

Looking forward to those screenshots!

It would be most interesting for the VIReader to be activated on a web page so that content/tours could be read/given
d

: New questions for the new project, Michael -

: Are we leaving the screensaver format with this one?

: Are you proposing to the fill the screen with an expressive face which responds to the matrix's inner state?

: Will sound (the speech recognition engine?) be the soul input to the matrix?

: What is the speech recognition engine "recognising"? I mean speech recognition conventionally converts speech into text. What's speech being converted into here?

: Most importantly, will facial expression be the soul output, or is there some possibility of speech (or, at the least, sound mimicry)?

That would be very possible dan. And btw, I do have a routine that produces a red/blue stereo version of the programs that I was trying out. Flickered bad but looked cool!

Wow having VIReader controlled by a webpage would be awesome!
In addition to anaglyph (red/blue 3d) I wonder if you could output interlaced 3d? i.e. odd scan lines left eye even scan lines right eye?

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It would be most interesting for the VIReader to be activated on a web page so that content/tours could be read/given
That would be very possible dan. And btw, I do have a routine that produces a red/blue stereo version of the programs that I was trying out. Flickered bad but looked cool!