A beta version of Ultra Hal Assistant 5.0 is available for download from
http://www.zabaware.com/beta/hal5beta.zip It is a 92 MB download. As this is a beta version, it is untested. Download and install at your own risk.
I reccommend backing up your DefBrain folder if you are currently running version 4.5 and the information you taught Hal is important to you. The installation program will automatically uninstall Hal 4.5 if it is found on your system. It should leave all your data files in tact though. If you wish for Hal 5 to use the info learned by Hal 4.5 either install Hal 5 into the same folder as Hal 4.5 or copy the contents of the DefBrain folder from version 4.5 (after uninstallation of 4.5 when only learned files remain) into the defbrain folder of Hal 5.
The beta version of Ultra Hal Assistant 5.0 does not currently include a Brain Editor utility or an AIM Bot, as these 2 items are still being worked on. The beta version is set to expire and stop functionining in November. A final release of Ultra Hal Assistant 5.0 is expected by the end of this month.
Please keep track of any bugs you come across, any annoyances, anything you would like to be changed and post it to this beta board. If you don't come across any errors, please post your overall impression on this board. Your comments as a beta tester will have a great impact on the final release of Ultra Hal Assistant 5.0. Please be as detailed as possible when reporting errors. Include your system specifications and write step by step what you did so that the problem can be recreated.
Whats New in Hal 5.0
- The Haptek 3D Character Engine has bene incorporated into Hal. This offers a new level of realism for Hal.
- Ultra Hal is compatible with software called People Putty from www.haptek.com allowing anyone to easily create 3D characters for Hal either from scratch or from a photograph of a real person.
- Hal's conversational database is about 75% larger, allowing Hal to converse intelligently about more topics then ever before.
- Hal's AI engine now makes use of the WordNet lexical database to allow Hal to work better with the data that it has available.
- New functions have been added to Hal's brain script that make use of the WordNet lexical database which allow Hal to make responses based on word relationships alone.
- The format of Hal's Q&A databases has been changed to allow for much faster proccessing.
- An option has been added to Hal that will allow Hal to read outloud clipboard contents when it changes. This allows the user to make Windows speak any text aloud simply by copying it into the clipboard.
- An option has been added to Hal that will allow Hal to read outloud standard Windows dialog boxes that pop up.
- Hal is able to check pop3 mail accounts and notify you when new mail arrives and optionally tell you who sent you mail and read the subject.
- A slider option has been added into Hal's Brain Options to allow you to control the emphasis placed on information learned by Hal from you. This will allow you to setup Hal to use responses Hal learned from you even if Hal thinks he can respond on his own more intelligently. Basically, the user will have some control over the threshold value that Hal uses to determine if a learned response is more intelligent then Hal's standard response.
- Bug fix: Hal's run program feature has been updated to avoid running a programs uninstall program or help file.
- Bug fix: Error 1335 no longer occurs on some Windows XP machines during installation
- A bug has been fixed that prevented people with non-English versions of Windows from being able to change Hal's options. (According to beta reports, this is still not fixed)
Under the hood changes:
The QABrain function (responsible for most of Hal's responses) has been changed. It now accepts files of 2 types: a new indexed binary format and the traditional ASCII format. If it detects a binary file like the new Mainbrain.brn it will utilize a fast read algorithm that searches through a sorted binary index. After narrowing down its possible responses to about 100 responses it utilizes an updated AI algorithm that makes use of the WordNet database. When comparing sentences for similarity WordNet is used to identify if a word is a noun, verb, or other. Nouns get the most weight, verbs 2nd, and other types 3rd when determining a relevance score. Sentences are compared in full with this new algorithm. Before only keywords were compared. Because of WordNet and weighting different words, all words can be compared.
If the QABrain is fed an ASCII file it will use the exact same algorithm as Hal 4.5 did, meaning it is slower, it uses an ExtractKeywords function on its comparisons, and it does not use WordNet.
The MainBrain.brn file cannot be edited with a text editor without causing damage to the entire file. A file must be edited when it is still in ASCII text format and then it must be compiled with the new Hal Brain Editor (currently not included in beta version) to convert to the new binary format.
The final release of Hal 5.0 will also include a deductive reasoning function. This was removed from the beta because it was still kind of buggy and I wanted to get the beta version out now. It will work something like this once fixed:
User: If Molly weighs 400 pounds, then Molly is overweight.
Ultra Hal: I understand the implication.
User: If Molly is overweight, then Molly's health is in danger.
Ultra Hal: I see the relationship.
User: Molly weighs 400 pounds.
Ultra Hal: Molly's health is in danger.
