I'd like to request the addition of user-selectable sounds that can be assigned to various system activities, triggers, scenes, etc. Also to be able to select a sound bit to play before Indigo will speak the text that was typed into the Text To Speak field.

Hmmmm, anyone know how to write a script that would do this? Even though it would be much simpler if Indigo provided the ability to browse for a sound file to play when a particular event occurred.

I assume you're talking about something like <ding> "Attention, someone is at the door"?
I do that with a couple of built-in command-line apps. The command afplay will play an mp3 file of choice so:

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afplay --volume 75 ding.mp3

will play the ding.mp3 file at volume level 75.

the command say will speak a phrase so:

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say -voice Zarvox "attention, someone is at the door"

will speak the phrase in quotes using the zarvox voice.

I'm at work so I don't have the exact script snippet I use, but I essentially just wrap those two commands into whatever I want to do.

Hope this helps,
Terry

To answer both of your questions regarding playing sounds:

My suspicion is that you want the tactile feedback sounds played through the device doing the controlling vs through the server, right? If you're going for audio feedback to stuff you're manually doing then having the server play some sound is probably not going to give you the immediate feedback you're looking for.

We already have a feature request for Indigo Touch & IWS to play a sound as a client action - we'll consider that along with the other features on the list when we get around to doing another Indigo Touch revision.

There is currently no built-in way to play a sound before speaking a message but as Terry points out there are multiple ways to skin that particular cat.

Thanks Jay, That is exactly what I'm looking to do considering the Mac running Indigo would not be in the same part of the house. I use iPads to report the current status and would love to be able to assign sounds to a wide range of things on a screen that I've customized - including the ability to have Indigo "know" where to play the sound and to speak what was assigned based on the trigger. Another cool feature would be for Indigo "to know" what room I'm in and automatically wake-up the iPad screen and transfer the active status screen (that was active in the other room) along with the tactile sounds so it will continue to report status without skipping a beat. Am I dreaming or is that technically possible?

One step further would be to be able to issue voice commands and Indigo carries them out through the Mic in the iPad. And if you say, turn-on the lights, Indigo "will know" that you mean the lights in the room you are currently in without having to be specific unless you want to control a device in some other room or outside then you'd need to be specific.

Thanks Terry! That will get me through until it is integrated.

Many thanks,
Rich

Hi Rich.

I'm not sure if this will help address what you're looking for, but I just released a plugin called "Announcer" that can play an audio file then speak whatever text you assign to an Indigo variable. It uses the free Play Sound application whose audio can be redirected with Airfoil to any AirPort Express, AirPlay speaker, computer speaker, or even an iPad with the free Airfil Speakers app installed. You could keep the Airfoil Speakers app running on the iPads and use Indigo 5's included Airfoil plugin to set the volume of the Speakers running on the iPad in whichever room has motion in it. The Airfoil Speakers app will stream audio in the background as long as Airfoil on your computer is connected to it (so Airfoil would have to remain connected to all iPad speakers at all times, but the volume on each could be set based on Indigo triggers/action). Of course, the iPads would probably need to be plugged much of the time, as keeping an audio stream going to them at all times would drain the battery pretty quick. I haven't tried this myself yet as I only have 1 iPad to test it on, but it might be worth testing out.

I just asked the same question. Guess I missed this post until it was too late. Great idea, by the way.

What I'm wanting is simply an option to play a "soothing" sound prior to hearing speech. This would be much less startling. For instance, "{SOUND}Ding", "You have someone waiting at the front door". or "{SOUND}Ding", "The garage door is still open". My experience is that the subtle sound prepares me for a voice when I'm not normally expecting one.

I'm thinking a simple field just above the "Speak:____________" box indicating a choice of .mp3 or .wav file. There's already a function that allows for delay between the two actions if necessary.