Messages

16

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 13, 2008, 10:02:06 am »

Art, I have the paid version and the additonal characters.

I have Kate & Paul voices, as-well-as Microsoft crystal & mike.

First question: the box that shows at the top left say "Haptek Console" - is that the correct control?

I turned on the option of havin Hal speak copied text, and he does speak but without lip sync.

I have tried your suggestion (copy & paste, drag, etc.)to no avail.

I am willing to bet it is something extremely simple that I am just overlooking.

17

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 12, 2008, 03:37:43 pm »

That didn't work......

I put a post on the programming forum to see if we could get an answer in programming. I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks

18

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Speaking documents with animation

« on: January 12, 2008, 12:36:03 pm »

Actually Jack, I could use a good clean head of Hillary Clinton. The team is doing a votes simulation mimicking the election process. Also, Hillary stopped by our school. We made national TV.
It really got the kids excited as she took the time to walk among them, give hugs, and take pictures.

A head of her would help "hook" the students.

Thanks, Hank

I will look on the web to see if I can find a large image of her.

19

General Discussion / hal keeping on subject questions

« on: January 12, 2008, 09:10:26 am »

I have been using Hal since September in the classroom.

At the beginning of the day in 1st period, Hal will go off topic.
As the day goes on, and the topic has been discussed in other classes, Hal is much better at staying on topic.

Once Hal has learned as much as I need him to know, I switch his brain to fully intelligent instead of learning. Then he does a much better job.

Without question the more you discuss a topic with Hal, the better he becomes.

The use of If-then statements when you are training him will have a significant effect on his responses.

Spelling is huge also. If a word is not spelled the same way as it was used the first time, Hal will not relate back to it.  I am using "Grammar check anywhere" with each entry. ( a suggestion from the forum)

You may already know all of this, but I thought I would add it in.

20

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Speaking documents with animation

« on: January 12, 2008, 08:54:28 am »

I have been in another location in the forum looking for help getting Hal to read documents with animation.

I am using Hal more and more in the classroom.

Currently I have been using "TextAloud" to read my documents out loud. However, since I am often using Hal to teach interactively with the students, it would be nice if he could also read documents (or text file) with animations on demand. It turns out I am not alone in this request

Suggestions so far are posted under "Ultra Hal Assistant"

Thanks in advance.

Hank

21

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 12, 2008, 08:42:46 am »

Ted I have been naming the file and keeping the file size small. No luck.  Thanks anyway. If you come up with any other things to try, let me know.  I have learned that the slightest differences in set up can have a huge impact on performance.

Art I am using XP.  The file size has be very small - one sentence for testing.

Of course, you are correct on MSagent not using SAPI5 I use Mike or crystal SAPI 4 voices for those character.

what would be great here, is if we could get an addition to the program that we could just say "read file *.txt" and it would open and read it.

22

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 11, 2008, 05:24:57 pm »

Thanks again all. You must stay up later than I do. I don't know you have responded until the next day (I'm in bed by 9 PM)!!

Here is where it stands:

Art - I moved the file and a box does come up on the left side of my screen. When I communicate with Hal through the Zabbaware program, I can see the the content of the box change. However, when I create a text file on my desktop and drag it to the box, the content of the box changes but Hal does not speak.

Also, I have tried to email those of you who gave me permission. However, I keep getting a message that email through the forum is not working.

I have programs that use MSagent characters that will TTS. However, I am frequently using Hal in my classroom to discuss topics with students. The interaction of the character as opposed to a simple reading of script grabs the students interest.

Jack G (Karacter King) has made a Haptek character of me and one of my team teachers,  and it would be great to be able to drag text and have the characters repeat it during and interactive discussion. Soooo... I am not ready to give up.

23

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 10, 2008, 06:37:26 am »

First, it is nice to talk to some people using Hal for education.

However, I am confused.......

Is the Haptek control box part of People Putty (which I don't have) or Hal.

I have not been able to figure out how to successfully complete the suggestions you have all made.

24

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 09, 2008, 05:39:15 pm »

thanks, I'll give it a try.

25

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 09, 2008, 05:23:33 pm »

Thanks Ted,
Is Hal Console on the disk or do I get it on line?

What is a "root drive?"

Obviously, I am clueless but interested.

(Gee, I sound like someone I'd like to meet at a bar!)

Thanks

26

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Speaking documents with animated Haptek characters

« on: January 09, 2008, 04:11:24 pm »

I can get Hal' TTS to read documents. but have not been able to figure out how to get the Haptek characters to speak them (animated).

I am using Hal in my classroom, and would like to use him to introduce topics or explain, teach, etc.

Any Ideas?

27

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Transferring info from one brain to another

« on: November 17, 2007, 04:27:37 pm »

Sorry for the delay; school keeps me busy.

Here is a what I did:

Rem Type=Plugin
Rem Name=Pop Quiz
Rem Author=ONTHECUTTINGEDGE2005
Rem Host=All
'This sub setups the plug-ins option panel in Hal's options dialog

Sub OptionsPanel()
    'Test Variable
    lblPlugin(0).Caption = "This plugin will allow HAL to ask topic type questions on the first response and give the answer on the second response."
    lblPlugin(0).Move 120, 10, 3300, 1000
    lblPlugin(0).WordWrap = True
    lblPlugin(0).Visible = True
End Sub  


Rem PLUGIN: PLUGINAREA7

'Here is our random Question Quizer Function.
PopQuiz = Questions(OriginalSentence)

'Here we see if the user is wanting a question from HAL about our sun as a type of Quiz.
If InStr(1, OriginalSentence, "Give us a question about our sun", vbTextCompare) > 0 Then
GetResponse = PopQuiz
End If
 
Rem PLUGIN: FUNCTIONS

Function Questions(OriginalSentence)
'This is where we can write pop quiz questions about our own Sun.
Select Case HalBrain.RandomNum(4)
Case 1
Quiz = "What type of star is our sun? <topic> Our Sun is a G2V class Star. </topic>"
Case 2
Quiz = "Can anyone tell me how many light years our Sun is from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy? <topic> The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy at a distance of approximately 26,000 light-years from the galactic center, completing one revolution in about 225–250 million years. </topic>"
Case 3
Quiz = "What is the difference between a pioneer and climax community? <topic> A pioneer community has little biodiversity, while a climax community has a high biodiversity. </topic>"
Case 4
Quiz = "what is the law of conservation of matter? <topic> Matter cannot be created or destroyed under ordinary circumstances, but it can be rearranged. </topic>"
End Select
Questions = Quiz
End Function

28

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Transferring info from one brain to another

« on: November 12, 2007, 03:28:00 pm »

I tried using the plugin and ran into the difficulty that Hal would only ask the 1st two questions I put in. I change the number in the parentheses to 6 (the number of questions I was trying) but that didn't seem to help.

Remember, I know NOTHING about programming so I am sure I am making a mistake based on ignorance. (Isn't ignorance supposed to be bliss?)

Because of my time frame, I erased everything inside the Jokedetect table and switched them to "quiz us," "test us" items.

I then erased all the jokes in the joke folder and put in questions using the format you gave me.

That works fine provide I don't put anything with the word "Question" in the joke detect folder. There must be something somewhere else in the script that gives Hal directions if he sees the word "question" in something the user types in.

This is actually what I was hoping for without having to erase the jokes. I put in a lot of time on that folder eliminating the inappropriate jokes. The kids love them. However, we must make sacrifices.

My intention is to make multiple folders for different units of study and then just change the name on them when I want Hal to access questions. The way it is now, I will have to change their name to "jokes" when I want to use the folder.

I am pretty sure this will work, but it would be nice to be able to joke with Hal..........

Thanks again, and remember, I am clueless about programming. So, what is obvious to others is beyond my realm of experience.

29

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Transferring info from one brain to another

« on: November 11, 2007, 08:28:51 pm »

Thanks, I got it set up and it works. I am now trying to figure our how to write and save banks of topic questions on specific topics. I will let you know how it goes.

Hank

I really appreciate the time you spent on this!

30

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Transferring info from one brain to another

« on: November 11, 2007, 12:21:50 pm »

Nope...Nothing yet even with that change. I am sure I have just done something wrong. It is figuring it out that is driving me crazy.

I am forming a new respect for programmers!