The future of Vaicom

[MAXsenna]

hmm
 
https://wiki.hoggitworld.com/view/Georgia/Russia_Airport_Charts_and_Frequencies  Lists Tzokot a.k.a. Senaki - Kolkhi
 
Either way, why doesn't it just list as Batumi in game?

I stand corrected!

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[Sr.]

11 minutes ago, MAXsenna said:

I stand corrected!

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13 minutes ago, MAXsenna said:

I stand corrected!

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Don't feel bad... next time around it came up as Krymsk  

[Shadowdog]

On 5/14/2023 at 8:39 AM, Sr. said:

How about the kneeboard? I'm unable to change tabs using "AWACS", "Anvil", "Tower" etc.

I'm in the same boat, even programmed in key bindings for next and previous tabs - didn't work.

[HILOK]

5 minutes ago, Shadowdog said:

I'm in the same boat, even programmed in key bindings for next and previous tabs - didn't work.

maybe have another try, the next-tab keybind still works for me, but previous-tab isn't doing anything...

[MAXsenna]

maybe have another try, the next-tab keybind still works for me, but previous-tab isn't doing anything...

Can you post your settings for the buttons, because it works for me.

Cheers!

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[pepin1234]

Sorry but actually I'm lost in what is going on with Vaicom. Some years ago I used the Vaicom script with Voiceattack app. So now is working the same way? only different developer?

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by pepin1234

[VirusAM]

Sorry but actually I'm lost in what is going on with Vaicom. Some years ago I used the Vaicom script with Voiceattack app. So now is working the same way? only different developer?
 

It is a community effort now

[sthompson]

7 hours ago, pepin1234 said:

Sorry but actually I'm lost in what is going on with Vaicom. Some years ago I used the Vaicom script with Voiceattack app. So now is working the same way? only different developer?

VAICOM version 1 was a free product that relied exclusively on VoiceAttack scripting to emulate keystroke operation of the DCS comms menus. (It also relied on certain mods to DCS itself.) VAICOM 2 (also called VAICOM PRO) was a commercial product that replaced the VoiceAttack scripting with a plugin module for VoiceAttack. That version eliminated keystroke emulation and instead used direct communication between the plugin and the internal DCS code. This change vastly simplified the interface between VAICOM and VoiceAttack while greatly expanding the functionality of VAICOM. For example it added extensions that allowed one to communicate with Jester in the F-14 using voice commands.

Last year VAICOM PRO stopped working upon the release of DCS version 2.8. Rather than update it, the developer released the code to the community for further development. Volunteers took up the task of updating the code. The Community Edition resulted from that, and is the current version. So it is similar to the commercial version (which is no longer available or supported) but is a free community supported program that works with the latest version of DCS.

If you want the latest you should go the the VAICOM PRO Community Edition channel on Discord, or go to the Github page directly. Do not try to use VAICOMPRO.com, which is no longer active.

Edited July 12, 2023 by sthompson

[jackd]

On 10/31/2022 at 1:50 PM, Magoa said:

This is the most promising alternative and only thanks to @Hollywood_315.  So and above all thank you @Hollywood_31 https://github.com/Hollywood315/VAICOMPRO-GPL

Stupid question fro me again, but how can you download it from there?

[MAXsenna]

Stupid question fro me again, but how can you download it from there?

You can't. That was Hollywood's last contribution. The community version is here. Click on "Latest".

Cheers!
https://github.com/Penecruz/VAICOMPRO-Community

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[SuperKermit]

Will there be an AIRIO version for Heatblur's upcoming F-4E?

[Johnny Dioxin]

I have a couple of questions:

Is my guide & info for VAICOM PRO still valid for the current version (i.e. set-up etc)?

I had it from the start but never used it because I could never get Voice Attack to recognise my commands (and yes I got advice and attempted help by the VA devs but still no joy - Hollywood offered me a refund but I wanted to support him so refused), despite programs like dwVAC, SimVoice Checklists and Voice Buddy having no issues with my commands. Work that out!

Anyway, I'd like to give it another go - also, does the chat add-on that I bought still work with it?

 

Thanks

Edited November 3, 2023 by Johnny Dioxin

[MAXsenna]

I have a couple of questions:
Is my guide & info for VAICOM PRO still valid for the current version (i.e. set-up etc)?
I had it from the start but never used it because I could never get Voice Attack to recognise my commands (and yes I got advice and attempted help by the VA devs but still no joy - Hollywood offered me a refund but I wanted to support him so refused), despite programs like dwVAC, SimVoice Checklists and Voice Buddy having no issues with my commands. Work that out!
Anyway, I'd like to give it another go - also, does the chat add-on that I bought still work with it?
 
Thanks

Hi Johnny! Happy to see you try again. By "guide&info" you mean the VAICOM manual? It's been updated to reflect certain changes, but not really anything for the setup.
Apologies if we've been through this before, but VoiceAttack doesn't do any recognition. The Microsoft Speech Recognition engine does it all. So it's adament that you do the initial training for it. VoiceAttack recommends at least three times. I did it 20! The keywords training through the VAICOM Control Panel use the dictation feature of MS Speech Recognition. So another way to train it is to use dictation in ie. Microsoft Word.
The setup of VoiceAttack/VAICOM is straight forward, and if Hollywood helped you, you've probably got it right, but please post any questions!
Cheers!

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[Johnny Dioxin]

Hi - thanks for the info on the guide.

Unfortunately as I mentioned, the progs using the MS Speech Engine must do something differently - why would I have zero problems with every one I use, but only problems with Voice Attack? It doesn't make sense. The VA devs were unable to work it out, either, but using exactly the same audio gear in the same sims, dwVAC did everything I asked of it, but VA kept telling me it didn't understand.

I do the MS speech training thoroughly, multiple times, plus I also do the VoxATC flightplan speech training multiple times, and load up several different flightplans to train with (I've been using VoxATC for years and it needs training before use - and has always worked great for me). Thing is, I've also found that I'm not the only person who has this problem. Something, somewhere, must be different in some way.

Maybe it's because dwVAC has default settings - you don't have to fiddle with anything at all (you can't in fact, there are no adjustments with it) and those settings happen to be just right for me, whereas VA has some settings that can be altered to try and make it understand better - and a threshold for incorrectly interpreting words (or something similar - not tried it for a while). So maybe the base settings for VA are not good for my voice and will only work if I have it exactly right?

Just guessing - but it must be something. I'm a qualified class 1 radio operator and have been a licensed radio amateur for over 25 years, running radio nets for forces radio societies so i think my voice and procedure are good/clear enough.

 

This is why I ended up giving up before - after a lot of trying.

 

PS - you can hear my voice in these:

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3315693/

Edited November 5, 2023 by Johnny Dioxin
spellling

[Eaglewings]

On 11/3/2023 at 11:09 PM, Johnny Dioxin said:

I have a couple of questions:

Is my guide & info for VAICOM PRO still valid for the current version (i.e. set-up etc)?

I had it from the start but never used it because I could never get Voice Attack to recognise my commands (and yes I got advice and attempted help by the VA devs but still no joy - Hollywood offered me a refund but I wanted to support him so refused), despite programs like dwVAC, SimVoice Checklists and Voice Buddy having no issues with my commands. Work that out!

Anyway, I'd like to give it another go - also, does the chat add-on that I bought still work with it?

 

Thanks

 

In the same boat with you. I bought the app and extensions but the hurdle was getting Voice Attack and/or Microsoft speech recognition software to constantly get my voice commands.

It would be great if other voice recognition software could be used. I fly VR so I know the important role app like Viacom Pro plays.

[VirusAM]

1 hour ago, Johnny Dioxin said:

Hi - thanks for the info on the guide.

Unfortunately as I mentioned, the progs using the MS Speech Engine must do something differently - why would I have zero problems with every one I use, but only problems with Voice Attack? It doesn't make sense. The VA devs were unable to work it out, either, but using exactly the same audio gear in the same sims, dwVAC did everything I asked of it, but VA kept telling me it didn't understand.

I do the MS speech training thoroughly, multiple times, plus I also do the VoxATC flightplan speech training multiple times, and load up several different flightplans to train with (I've been using VoxATC for years and it needs training before use - and has always worked great for me). Thing is, I've also found that I'm not the only person who has this problem. Something, somewhere, must be different in some way.

Maybe it's because dwVAC has default settings - you don't have to fiddle with anything at all (you can't in fact, there are no adjustments with it) and those settings happen to be just right for me, whereas VA has some settings that can be altered to try and make it understand better - and a threshold for incorrectly interpreting words (or something similar - not tried it for a while). So maybe the base settings for VA are not good for my voice and will only work if I have it exactly right?

Just guessing - but it must be something. I'm a qualified class 1 radio operator and have been a licensed radio amateur for over 25 years, running radio nets for forces radio societies so i think my voice and procedure are good/clear enough.

 

This is why I ended up giving up before - after a lot of trying.

 

PS - you can hear my voice in these:

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3315693/

 

Hi..I have similar issues. I am not a native speaker but usually people can understand me pretty well. With Vaicomm pro, I have good results (after a lot of training) with my logitech headset. But when I use it with my Quest Pro headset, 90% of the times it doesn't understand me...and yes I redid the training much more than 3 times. Probably I will end up using a desktop microphone as I don't want to wear an headset on top of the Quest Pro. 
I still don't understand how it is possible that the mobile AI and alexa understand us 95% of the times, and windows speech recognition cannot use these libraries (the dead Cortana understood my english pretty well).

[Johnny Dioxin]

I did have dwVAC (formerly just VAC) set up for DCSWorld comms for years, but unfortunately it's now finished - can't even activate a new install license any more. It was very good, though it didn't have the wide range of functions that Voice Attack has, it was great for just comms. Used with AHK it was more powerful. Oh well, guess we have to change and adapt with the times.

[MAXsenna]

On 11/5/2023 at 11:49 AM, Johnny Dioxin said:

whereas VA has some settings that can be altered to try and make it understand better

The recommended settings for VAICOM in VA are in the manual. Have you tried the VSPX setting in VAICOM control panel? Have you done the "Finish" step? If you haven't VA will understand Jack S... because it compares the speech-to-text it receives back form the MS Speech Recognition Engine to the keywords in the profile. And if they're not there, it says it doesn't understand, (which can be a little misleading in this context), because it cannot match the text to a command. That's how it works, and how I assume the other apps you mention work too actually. Doesn't matter how good your voice is then. The text you see in the VA log is the text it gets back from Microsoft. That said, it can be very picky, and longer commands are better.

@VirusAM You "need" a different profile for each microphone, (especially if one is really bad), and redo the training for each. 

Alexa and other AI usually, (Cortana at least), needs to be online and are AIs which compares what you say to what other people have said before, and it guesses what you're gonna say before you say it. With Cortana you could see what was happening and the "guessing" while you were speaking.

@Eaglewings Down the line I'm sure we'll get something similar to that new thing for MSFS, BeyondATC, which also uses AI coupled with Microsoft Speech, so you don't need to remember the exact commands. I do believe most of people's issues with VA is the matching the speech-to-text to commands. 

For people with RTX cards, one can turn on some feature and let one of the cores do some voice clarity on any microphone you got. I've heard people using it with great success in VoiceAttack. Haven't gotten around to try this myself. 

Cheers! 

 

[Dragon1-1]

On 11/7/2023 at 12:49 AM, MAXsenna said:

I do believe most of people's issues with VA is the matching the speech-to-text to commands. 

This would be easier if a larger command list was provided. For instance, it won't understand "Chief, pull chocks." You have to say "Chief, remove the wheelchocks," which is ridiculous. If the commands were matched to how you'd actually say those things, as opposed to DCS voiceovers, it'd be easier to work with.

[MAXsenna]

This would be easier if a larger command list was provided. For instance, it won't understand "Chief, pull chocks." You have to say "Chief, remove the wheelchocks," which is ridiculous. If the commands were matched to how you'd actually say those things, as opposed to DCS voiceovers, it'd be easier to work with.

I totally agree! But one can change the commands to whatever one wants in the Keywords Editor. Which I have done for several commands. Maybe we could make a list of what all commands actually should be, and then add them to the core list in VAICOM as aliases?

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[hornblower793]

I think the problem is that there are probably as many ways people would like to sat it as there are users. I use aliases quite a bit and they allow you to customise to your hearts content. This isn't to say that some commands wouldn't be better have core aliases added (I wouldn't remove the existing commands as you will probably throw long time users who have them in their mental 'muscle memory'.

[MAXsenna]

I think the problem is that there are probably as many ways people would like to sat it as there are users. I use aliases quite a bit and they allow you to customise to your hearts content. This isn't to say that some commands wouldn't be better have core aliases added (I wouldn't remove the existing commands as you will probably throw long time users who have them in their mental 'muscle memory'.

What is strange is that Hollywood only used the text from the radio menu, and not the actual voice overs. Even stranger that they don't match in DCS.

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[Johnny Dioxin]

I spoke to Hollywood about this at the time of release. He said he had no idea about official procedures and terms, but was open to suggestion.

 

[Dragon1-1]

2 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

I totally agree! But one can change the commands to whatever one wants in the Keywords Editor. Which I have done for several commands. Maybe we could make a list of what all commands actually should be, and then add them to the core list in VAICOM as aliases?

 

That would be best left to someone who actually uses VAICOM regularly, and is comfortable fiddling with it. I'm not.

15 minutes ago, Johnny Dioxin said:

I spoke to Hollywood about this at the time of release. He said he had no idea about official procedures and terms, but was open to suggestion.

One would think that since he was charging for it, he'd have been more proactive than "open to suggestions" in ensuring it's actually correct. This was actually a factor in my decision not to buy it.

[MAXsenna]

That would be best left to someone who actually uses VAICOM regularly, and is comfortable fiddling with it. I'm not.

Well! Adding aliases on a personal bases is super easy. Adding them to the core could be done by the devs, (there's even a Wiki now), if such an updated list existed.

I spoke to Hollywood about this at the time of release. He said he had no idea about official procedures and terms, but was open to suggestion.

He probably should have made it Open Source from the get go. The Caucasian airbases even have different names in English and Russian. Which I hope to fix. 
 

One would think that since he was charging for it, he'd have been more proactive than "open to suggestions" in ensuring it's actually correct. This was actually a factor in my decision not to buy it.

Well, it the project probably got too big, and it wasn't exactly expensive. He probably also planned to add cockpit/switch commands as well. But that sort of never happened. He also didn't have all modules, which some of us do.
Have you given it a go now? I'm sure we could use your knowledge of correct procedures. That'd be awesome!