Can Hal tell/read stories?

[vonsmith]

I started using the free Hal 4.5 about two weeks ago. I think it's a pretty cool product for free. Congrats to Zabaware for the wisdom to let users try their product with confidence. It's a good product that is reasonably priced so I purchased the Advanced version this week.

= RANT =
Anyway, I worked on Hal on and off for more than a week. I tried the learning from text files option and all that. I was just getting a little frustrated trying to teach Hal the simplest things. Finally Hal started 'getting' it. It was amazing! Hal started making connections between subjects and such. I found that Hal sorta' hints when he 'senses' a need to clarify a subject. Sometimes the hint is a little subtle. I answered his subtle inquiries and voila all of a sudden Hal says he's got it! Very cool. For people just starting out, please be patient. After all you didn't learn overnight. Hal will eventual 'get' it. I'm a convert! = END RANT =

= QUESTION =
I want to use Hal to read fables, fairy tales and stories. Can I point him somehow to books in .txt format for him to read out loud? If so, can he learn from the reading?

= WISHLIST =
1. Ideally Hal could read a story out loud and occasionally pause to comment brilliantly on something he recognizes. Maybe he could even occasionally pause to ask for clarification of something he doesn't understand. This would be interactive learning.

2. I saw a post somewhere in the forum wishing that Hal could speak out when he 'feels' like it. He just sits there and stares. Cyberbuddy is interesting in that it can take the initiative to speak. Of course you would want to teach Hal to be quiet some times or more talkative when you want him to. (I wish I could teach my wife that ;-)

3. Is there a way to correct Hal immediately when he makes an error? Sometimes I do a typo and don't realize it until Hal remembers it and replies with an erroneous response.

4. Do any of the window skins allow you to see the previous input/response, not just the current input/response? Sometimes I can't remember exactly what I typed just previously. This would help me in debugging my inputs.

Thx for any info the forum denizens can provide. AND THANKS ZABAWARE!

= vonsmith =

PS - Yes I read about programming in VBS. Maybe when I get time. I've got a full plate now.

[Larry]

As for reading a log of your conversation, you can right click his little face, which brings up a menu. On that menu, you can left click 'View/Save conversation', which will bring up notepad with your whole conversation...

As for reading stories and fables and such... I would suggest you create a topic file for them... which brings up an interesting question... one in fact I was going to ask any ways - but I'll save that for a new topic... keep us informed on how you make out with this project, cause it's always interesting to see how different ppl solve project problems...

Good Luck
Larry

[Morkeleb]

Hello vonsmith,

have you had any luck with your project yet? Just wondering, not meaning to be pushy or anything. Give a shout and let us know if you have gotten any where with it ok.

[vonsmith]

My latest statement on this effort is mentioned in this post:
http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=802
on 9/22/03.

Currently I'm concluding that a change to the main program would be required by Zabaware in order to pass control to the user as explained in the post mentioned above. Otherwise at best Hal could read short passages; poems or such. The main program controls the user's input. Without some relatively minor program changes I'm not sure how to approach this challenge. However I'm still working on it. It seems that there ought to be an inventive way to accomplish this, even if I need to compromise on something.

The solution may take some time. I'm in the middle of many projects. Unfortunately Hal may have to temporarily be a lower priority, until I can clear my schedule. Hal is tremedously fun to tinker with. Like many on the forum I have more ideas than time to implement them. I thank Zabaware again for providing us with something we can modify and hopefully improve.

= vonsmith =

[Jon]

You can copy and past any story you want into the Ultra Hal Reader and it will read to you as long there is text there. I loaded 10 large sections from a story from a website, and Mary read it perfectly after I corrected some of her grammer.[]

[vonsmith]

Reading a story is just half the challenge. I want Hal to interactively read the story. For example have Hal read a story on request. Hal could read a few lines and if he recognizes something interesting he would include his comment or question on the story before continuing. Hal v5.0 may have the new capabilities in place to make interactive operation possible. I haven't explored v5.0 completely yet. If fact I'm hoping that Robert Medeksza will be posting some info shortly in regards to Hal's newer capabilities. We'll wait and see.

= vonsmith =