28 replies to this topic

[samishal]

I currently do some volunteering at the National museum of Computing, and since the anniversary of the TI-99/4A is coming up (June 12th for those who dont know) I would like to do a special display about the TI.

I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

I was thinking about having three or four TI's set up each running different programs and having a few extra carts about to show people other software, and then having a few large displays with lots of information and fancy pictures and colours, I was also going to prepare a small talk maybe 5-10 minutes long, as if I propose this to the board I will be put in charge of the entire running of the display.

Any suggestions are welcome, different layouts, display information which programs to show off, etc

Just thought that since I want to do a display about the TI's I best do it right

Samishal

[Stuart]

Maybe your 'small talk' could include an 'interview' with a console about how it feels to be still running after all these years, using the TEII text-to-speech?

Has anyone tried an "Eliza" program (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA) with the text-to-speech?

[samishal]

WOAH!!! thats a fantastic idea, i will have to check the hardware archives to see that museum has the relevant hardware, thanks Stuart!

[Willsy]

Hell yeah, what a great idea Stuart!

[samishal]

Willsy I remeber you showing me a different text to speech utility at the AGM in august, would you be able to tell me a it more baout it since the standard one is somewhat shit

Edited by samishal, Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:48 PM.

[kl99]

I am not sure I get it yet:
Do you want to make a chat between two ti-99 systems connected via serial/parallel interface? On such a system users could enter text on one system and it shows up (and the text is spoken out optionally) on the other system. Text entering and showing/spoken out vica versa between two systems.

Or do you want one system that simulates a chat between the user and the system? Where the computer part of the chat is speaken out. Like in Wargames.

The TEII speech options are really good for both situations. You don't need a disk system like.
Check the TEII manual, Point 14 Appendix C: Accessing Text-to-Speech in TI Basic and Point 15: List of allophones.

For a chat simulation with the computer you can optimize the speech quality of its answers:
The TEII manual explains how to set the pitch and slope, setting stress points, breaks, setting inflections.
In cases where this doesn't work you can setup Allophone speech and create your one words with its own pronouncation.
There was a TI Disk Software released for XB called Text to Speech which gives you about the same amount of possibilities like you would have using the TEII, but it needs a disk system and the routines take up a part of your avaiable ram:
Here is the manual of this Disk Software: ftp://ftp.whtech.com/datasheets%20and%20manuals/Text-to-Speech.pdf
But I suggest using TEII

[Willsy]

The only one I know of is TEII - that does text to speech. It used to just *kill* the Communist 64 owners

[samishal]

I think Stuart's idea was to have me type in questions into the TI and have the TI output (in the form of text to speech) answers so that I could simulate an interview. I have made chatter bots before so programming the thing should be a breeze, however I have never done and text to speech other than the one that comes in the XB cart. So if you could point me to some info on TEII that would be cool.

[Willsy]

I think Stuart means that *you* talk to the computer (like you are interviewing it or something). And the TI responds using its voice. Obviously, you will have a written script that both you and the computer are following. You could simply use the keyboard whereby it waits for you to press a key and then it speaks the next item on the script - however, a better way would be to use the fire button on the joystick port - wire it up to a footswitch and you can use your foot to signal the computer. Hopefully your audience won't notice the foot!

[Willsy]

You need to get hold of a terminal emulator II cartridge. THe program to do the speech can be written in TI BASIC, including the joystick bit.

Here is one; it's in the USA but it seems cheap enough... Maybe there's someone here who can send you a module. I don't think I have one.

[kl99]

Basic code is this:

100 OPEN #1:"SPEECH",OUTPUT
110 INPUT "INPUT TEXT HERE: ":A$
120 PRINT #1:A$
130 GOTO 110

You can build a chat simulator around that.
The pronouncation is described in the TEII manual, try these for a first look:

PRINT #1:"^SUPERB"
PRINT #1:"^>SUPERB"
PRINT #1:"_WHAT ^ TIME IS _IT"

I found a public download option of the manual here:
ftp://ftp.whtech.com...r_II_Manual.zip (unzip the .cbz file to get the jpg files)

I guess there will be a few guys willing to help you getting such a demo running.

I suggest making one version of the computer messages, that is "printed" to the speech channel including pronouncation optimization and one clean text version that is "printed" on the screen.

What should the basic interaction be about? Will this program run as an interaction program when visitors enter the room? Or should this be a one-time demo where you enter the user text (that you prepared because you know how the machine reacts)?

Edited by kl99, Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:19 AM.

[samishal]

So the terminal emulator cart can also do speech? The foot switch is an execellent idea Willsy

[kl99]

whatever cartridge you use you need the speech synthesizer of course.

basically any assembler program can use an attached speech synthesizer.

extended basic, terminal emulator II have preinstalled routines to access (use) speech from within basic.

the editor assembler / mini  memory gives you the possibility to program in assembly so you can create speech using those.

and of course there are cartridges that contain LPC sequences or have integrated routines to create speech (Parsec, Star Trek, Super Fly, Bigfoot, Early Reading & other educational modules,...)

[just for completeness: there was an italian programmer who created a game that used in game speech using call sound statements, without a speech synthesizer.]

[samishal]

Cool thanks for the information kI99, however I will probably use the TE2 cart for simplicity.

Ok so after reading the TE2 manual and having a play about on classic99 using kI99's code (thanks by the way) i have managed to get the emulator talking however not with the pronunciation yet.

As for implementation I would like to have the program to respond to user text that can be typed in like a normal chat bot, however the foot pedal implementation idea seems fantastic also. Would be able to handle such an interactive chat bot routine as a chat bot program?

[Willsy]

By the way, the speech on the real machine is much better than classic99. There are some issues with speech in classic99 in general that Tursi is aware of. He'll fix em one day!

[samishal]

AH right cool well ill see what the museum has and if they have a speech synth Ill borrow it for development else ill buy one lol cheers guys

[rocky007]

kl99, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:51 AM, said:

I am not sure I get it yet:
Do you want to make a chat between two ti-99 systems connected via serial/parallel interface? On such a system users could enter text on one system and it shows up (and the text is spoken out optionally) on the other system. Text entering and showing/spoken out vica versa between two systems.

Or do you want one system that simulates a chat between the user and the system? Where the computer part of the chat is speaken out. Like in Wargames.

The TEII speech options are really good for both situations. You don't need a disk system like.
Check the TEII manual, Point 14 Appendix C: Accessing Text-to-Speech in TI Basic and Point 15: List of allophones.

For a chat simulation with the computer you can optimize the speech quality of its answers:
The TEII manual explains how to set the pitch and slope, setting stress points, breaks, setting inflections.
In cases where this doesn't work you can setup Allophone speech and create your one words with its own pronouncation.
There was a TI Disk Software released for XB called Text to Speech which gives you about the same amount of possibilities like you would have using the TEII, but it needs a disk system and the routines take up a part of your avaiable ram:
Here is the manual of this Disk Software: ftp://ftp.whtech.com...t-to-Speech.pdf
But I suggest using TEII

that's really interesting, i never heard about this software... give a try tonight !

[Stuart]

Willsy, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:56 AM, said:

I think Stuart means that *you* talk to the computer (like you are interviewing it or something). And the TI responds using its voice. Obviously, you will have a written script that both you and the computer are following. You could simply use the keyboard whereby it waits for you to press a key and then it speaks the next item on the script - however, a better way would be to use the fire button on the joystick port - wire it up to a footswitch and you can use your foot to signal the computer. Hopefully your audience won't notice the foot!

Exactly what I meant Mark.

Stuart.

[marc.hull]

Willsy, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:00 AM, said:

You need to get hold of a terminal emulator II cartridge. THe program to do the speech can be written in TI BASIC, including the joystick bit.

Here is one; it's in the USA but it seems cheap enough... Maybe there's someone here who can send you a module. I don't think I have one.

There is also a program that runs in XB with memory expansion that does all the text to speech functions that the TEII cart does.  Eliminates the need for the TEII cart and runs in faster XB.   If interested I'll find it and post it.

[Willsy]

marc.hull, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:51 PM, said:

Willsy, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:00 AM, said:

You need to get hold of a terminal emulator II cartridge. THe program to do the speech can be written in TI BASIC, including the joystick bit.

Here is one; it's in the USA but it seems cheap enough... Maybe there's someone here who can send you a module. I don't think I have one.

There is also a program that runs in XB with memory expansion that does all the text to speech functions that the TEII cart does.  Eliminates the need for the TEII cart and runs in faster XB.   If interested I'll find it and post it.

Yes, that would be a good idea, since you could 'pretty the program up' with sprites and stuff.

[kl99]

Willsy, on Tue Apr 17, 2012 12:29 AM, said:

marc.hull, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 6:51 PM, said:

Willsy, on Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:00 AM, said:

You need to get hold of a terminal emulator II cartridge. THe program to do the speech can be written in TI BASIC, including the joystick bit.

Here is one; it's in the USA but it seems cheap enough... Maybe there's someone here who can send you a module. I don't think I have one.

There is also a program that runs in XB with memory expansion that does all the text to speech functions that the TEII cart does.  Eliminates the need for the TEII cart and runs in faster XB.   If interested I'll find it and post it.

Yes, that would be a good idea, since you could 'pretty the program up' with sprites and stuff.

That program needs Memory Expansion and a Disk Drive, so a basic Peripheral Expansion Box setup. I don't know if the museum has one.
If it has, the manual for this disk software is here: ftp://ftp.whtech.com/datasheets%20and%20manuals/Text-to-Speech.pdf

[Willsy]

kl99, on Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:00 AM, said:

That program needs Memory Expansion and a Disk Drive, so a basic Peripheral Expansion Box setup.

Oh yeah! Very good point!

[samishal]

Ah sweet I'll try and get down to the museum after the 23rd, they have made me the curator of the TI collection, which I'm pleased about, but I need to catalog stuff while Im down there so once I get back Ill post a list of what the museum has

[Willsy]

If they have any TI minis they're mine!

[samishal]

Lol as much as I would love to give you one, the guys at the museum are kinda like the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout, they just acquire, restore and preserve tech lol