Creaceed - Vocalia

The very first contact

First, we briefly explain what Vocalia is used for. Then, we present some very important aspects to have in mind if you want to use such an app: network independence, data confidentiality, and the steps required before installing the app.

What is Vocalia?
Vocalia is a speech recognition application giving you access to some contents on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
- Voice dialing for the iPhone. Vocalia helps you find your contacts’ name in your address book, and automatically calls the number you want.
  That’s what we call the Contact Mode. Vocalia’s Eye is pink.
- Searching for songs in the iTunes library for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Say the name of an artist or group, and then listen to a song or an album.
  We gave this function the name of iPod Mode. Vocalia’s Eye is red/orange.
- Searching for bookmarks in Safari for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Say the name of a bookmark, and Vocalia opens the website in Safari.
  It’s called Bookmark Mode. Vocalia’s Eye is blue.
Future versions may provide additional features.
Do I need a network connection?

The whole speech recognition process occurs locally on your iPhone/iPod Touch. Therefore, you don't need any network connection for the Contact and iPod Modes. For the Bookmark Mode however, you actually need a network connection in order to visit websites.
Does Vocalia send my personal data to your servers?

Vocalia doesn't send anything to any remote servers (no contact names, no songs, no phone numbers...). All data stay on your iPhone/iPod Touch.
Do I have to provide additional information before using Vocalia?

No, you don't. Vocalia is able to phonetize most English-sounding names correctly. However, you may be interested in adding alternative speech shortcuts (phonetizations) for some contact names. For instance, you may add "My best friend John" in addition to the default "John Doe" entry.

All modes

In this section, you’ll find some questions about functions available in all Vocalia’s modes (Contacts, iPod and Bookmarks).

What are the navigation modes?
Go to the Settings, and choose "Navigation Mode". There, you have 3 possibilities to search for something, and to select a result from the list:
- Manual Taps: the old way for those who like to touch their iPhone's screen.
- Voice: when you see the result list, just say the number before the correct result (1, 2, 3,...) to make the information appear. At that moment, select which number to call by saying "home" or "work" for instance, or which song to play.
- Timer (2 sec.): let Vocalia call for you. Neither tapping nor speaking needed. 2 seconds after showing you the result list, Vocalia automatically calls the 1st result.
What is the prefered distance from the phone? How loud should I speak into the mic?

Only for the iPhone: Speak normally, mouth 2 or 3 inches from the mic (the mic is on the right side of the connector to synchronize the device).
For the iPhone and iPod Touch: You can also use the external mic from the headset, let the cable down straight from your right ear.
Vocalia can cope with some volume variation, the waveform display shows current sound amplitude.
Does Vocalia work in a noisy environment (like a shopping mall)?

Most of the time, it does. Background noise usually has a much lower amplitude than your voice since you are much closer to the mic than the noise sources.
However, speech recognition results may be less accurate in very noisy environments. If the background noise is too loud, you should activate “Proximity Sensing” (see related question below).
What do you mean by "Vocalia shows up to 10 results"?

We mean that when the speech recognition process is over, Vocalia selects the 10 results which are the closest to what you pronounced (10 names in Contact Mode, 10 artists in iPod Mode or 10 bookmarks in Bookmark Mode).
It doesn't mean that you can't have more than 10 contacts or 10 artists. Vocalia will work properly even if there are several hundreds in it (up to 5,000). :-)

In the settings, you can choose how many results you want Vocalia to show after a speech recognition process (1, 2, 3, up to 5 or up to 10). You should use Vocalia a little bit to evaluate how right the results usually are, and then you can change this setting.
What is Proximity sensing?
Proximity sensing is a new feature in Vocalia 2.0. Combined with the Ready Vibration option, it is going to be very helpful in noisy environments.
As soon as you activated proximity sensing, Vocalia listens to you when it notices you are nearby, not before. There are 2 ways to make Vocalia notice you:
- by clicking Vocalia’s Eye (only available at the 1st step)
- by moving your iPhone to your ear (available at all steps).
The iPhone vibrates when it notices you. Then, you can ask Vocalia to find what you are looking for. Make sure you are talking next to the mic, especially if you are in a noisy place.

Remark: the Proximity sensing option is only available on the iPhone (not on the iPod Touch).
How do I activate "Shake to retry"?

You can activate Shake to retry from the Settings. When active, you can go back by shaking the iPhone/iPod Touch left-to-right (or contrary) once. For instance, go from a speech recognition result directly back to Vocalia’s Eye.
What is the "Ready Vibration" option?

If you activate this option (look in the settings), your iPhone is going to vibrate when Vocalia is ready. It is the signal that you can speak.

Remark: the Ready Vibration option is only available on the iPhone (not on the iPod Touch).
What should I do to show help messages? How do they help me?

Help is available on all Vocalia’s screens. If help is activated, you see some examples of the voice commands available at that step appear and disappear. Thanks to these messages, you know what you can say to Vocalia when you need to look for something.
To show help messages, click the small loupe in the lower right corner on any of Vocalia’s screens, or say "Show help" (if you selected voice navigation). To hide help messages, click the small loupe once again.

Contact Mode

The questions in this section deal with functions only available in Contact Mode. For instance, you can’t add a new phonetization to the title of a song, and split the first and last names of an artist either.

What is the basic workflow of the Contact Mode?

1. Start Vocalia by clicking its icon.
2. Check you actually are in Contact Mode. If not, click the first button in the lower menu bar or say Contact Mode.
3. Show help for some voice command examples.
4. Speak the contact's name (as mentioned in your address book).
5*. Choose the contact in the result list by saying the number before the name: "one", "two", "three"....
6. Say where you want to call: "home", "work"...
(*) not required if you set the number of results to one in the settings.

NB: As you will use your speech recognition tool very often, we advise you to drag and drop Vocalia's icon to your application short list so that you can open it more easily.
Does the way I pronounce names matter?

Vocalia phonetizes your contacts' names as they are recorded in your address book.
Let's say a friend of yours is recorded as "John Smith". The first time you launch the application, Vocalia phonetizes "John Smith", and it is the only phonetization it will save. If you pronounce "Smith John" or "Johnny", Vocalia could have problems finding the right name.
Fortunately, the option "Split names" enables you to pronounce either "John" or "Smith" only. So, you don't have to remember how you recorded every single contact name in your address book.
What is the "Split Names" option?

The "Split Names" option makes it possible to only pronounce the first name or the last name of a contact to retrieve it. With that option, you can say "John" or "Doe", instead of the full "John Doe" and still be able to retrieve it.
How to add alternative voice shortcuts?

You can add one or several voice shortcuts to your contact names, i.e. bynames like "Daddy", "My cousin" or "School". When you want to call someone, you can pronounce either his/her name as listed in your address book or the voice shortcut you added.

Here is how to add a voice shortcut to a contact:
Screen 1. Click the i button in the upper right corner.
Screen 2. Click the arrow next to "Edit Phonetizations" and choose your contact's name in the list.
Screen 3. Click the "Edit" button and then the arrow next to "Add New Phonetization..."
Screen 4. Type the byname you want to add as a shortcut and click the "Phonetizations" button.
Screen 5. You see there's a new vocal shortcut for your contact.
Screen 6. You can see which contacts in your contact list have a vocal shortcut. There's a point just after the name.
What does exactly happen when I click "Reset Phonetizations"?

The stored phonetization cache is erased, and alternative phonetizations entered by the user are deleted. This information is lost and will have to be entered again.

iPod Mode

Following questions are specific to the iPod Mode. This mode is available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

What is the basic workflow of the iPod Mode?

1. Start Vocalia by clicking its icon.
2. Check you actually are in iPod Mode. If not, click the second button in the lower menu bar or say iPod Mode.
3. Show help for some voice command examples.
4. Say the name of the artist you want to listen to (as mentioned in your iTunes library).
5*. Choose the artist in the result list by saying the number before the name.
6. Choose what you want to listen to by saying: “All songs”, the whole name of an album or song.
(*) not required if you set the number of results to one in the settings.
Does the way I pronounce artist names matter?

Yes, it does. You must speak the artist name as mentioned in the iTunes library. The Split Names and Add a New Phonetization functions are not available for the iPod Mode.
Examples: you must say "Justin Timberlake", "Michael Jackson", "Britney Spears", "Madonna", "The Pussycat Dolls", "Kings of Leon"...
How can I update the song library in Vocalia?
The first time you install Vocalia, the information about your iTunes library is automatically imported. You need to update this information when you add new songs to your iTunes library. Here is how to do it:

Bookmark Mode

The Bookmark Mode too has some specific functions. It works on iPhone and iPod Touch, and requires a network connection.

How to upload bookmarks?
Do you have a Mac?
Here is what you should do to upload bookmarks from your Mac to your iPhone/iPod Touch.
Do you have a PC?
Here is what you should do.
Are you running Linux as operating system?
Can I import the bookmarks I have already saved in Safari on my iPhone?

No, you can't. We would like to add this feature but the iPhone development kit prevents us from doing it right now. As soon as we are allowed to access the bookmarks already on your iPhone, we'll release an update of Vocalia.
What is the basic workflow of the Bookmark Mode?

1. Start Vocalia by clicking its icon.
2. Check you actually are in Bookmark Mode. If not, click the third button in the lower menu bar or say Bookmark Mode.
3. Show help for some voice command examples.
4. Speak the bookmark name (as you saved it).
5*. Choose the website in the result list by saying the number before the name.
6. The website opens in Safari.
(*) not required if you set the number of results to one in the settings.
Does the way I pronounce bookmark names matter?

Yes, it does. You must use the bookmark name as you saved it. The Split Names and Add a New Phonetization functions are not available for bookmarks.

Issues

I can't get speech recognition to work. What should I do?

Speech recognition is a technology that has to handle the huge variability of human voices. All voices are different and may have variable degrees of success in a speech recognition engine. Moreover, background noises can also disturb the recognizer.

What you could do to get better results:
1. Check Vocalia actually uses English as Spoken Language.
2. Avoid background noises, especially other voices. If you can’t, activate Proximity sensing (option only available on the iPhone).
3. Speak clearly as you would do on the phone with someone.
4. Use the iPhone/iPod Touch external mic (built into the headset).
5. Set the number of results in the settings to a higher value.
6. Add bynames like "Mum", "My boss", "My cousin" or "Honey" (only available for the Contact Mode).
7. Ask someone else to speak into the mic (a friend, a colleague, your dog...) ;-)
Vocalia crashes at launch. What should I do?

It happened last year, after the 1st release of Vocalia. We fixed this issue, and it should be okay now. If not, do as follows.
Switch to failsafe mode (speech recognition is disabled, but settings are still available): hold your iPhone upside down (perfectly vertical) and start Vocalia at the same time. The failsafe message will show up, and Vocalia's Eye won't be glowing anymore. Go to the settings, and click "Reset Phonetizations".
If it doesn't solve your problem, delete the application and take it straight from the App Store again (it is free). If you still have the problem, send an email to vocalia at creaceed dot com.
It takes 20 seconds to launch. Is it normal?

The first time you launch Vocalia, it will phonetize all your contacts, songs and bookmarks, and store their phonetizations locally on your iPhone.
The next time you will launch Vocalia, the stored information will be used and the recognition process will happen more quickly.

Supported languages

Which languages are supported?

Currently, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian are supported.
How can I check Vocalia uses English speech recognition (and not French or German)?

Vocalia's default language after installation is the one your iPhone uses by default. If you want to change this language or to check which language is currently used by Vocalia, go to the settings and click "Spoken Language".

Updates

Are bug fixes and new features free?

Yes, they are. All bug fixes, new features and additional languages are free. You pay Vocalia once for all.
I want to upgrade to the latest version but I have to click a "Buy" button in order to start downloading. Are upgrades not supposed to be free?

They are free indeed. This "Buy" button is weird but it is part of the App Store. We can't do anything to change it.
Therefore, don't hesitate to click "Buy". We are not going to charge anything for it.
You announced an update last week but I didn’t see any new version of Vocalia yet...

We usually announce updates when we submit them to Apple. Getting the latest version of an app approved and published on the App Store takes a few days. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything to make the process go faster. The only thing to “do” is to wait...

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