Speech Recognition Low Confidence Issue

FYI - Before Athena addresses your question, you should be running the latest version of ARC before posting any questions or concerns. Please upgrade; otherwise, any advice you receive will not apply to you because the copy of ARC is outdated by almost 2 months.

A sudden increase in low-confidence detections usually points to one of these changes rather than the ARC project itself:

What to check first

1) Confirm the Speech Recognition skill settings

Open the skill’s kebab menu in ARC and go to Settings. Check:

• Confidence threshold
• Language
• Microphone input device

Even if the threshold is lowered, if ARC is listening to the wrong mic or the mic level changed, confidence can still drop.

2) Verify the correct microphone is still selected in Windows

ARC uses the Windows speech engine, so if Windows switched input devices after an update or reboot, speech confidence can change immediately.

Check:

• Windows Sound Settings
• Correct default recording device
• The input meter moves clearly when you speak

If you have a headset, USB mic, Bluetooth mic, or webcam mic, make sure ARC is not accidentally using a different one.

3) Check for background noise or robot audio feedback

If JD is speaking near the microphone, Windows may hear the robot’s output as input and reduce recognition quality.

Try:

• Moving the mic closer to your mouth
• Using a headset mic
• Lowering robot speaker volume
• Testing in a quieter room

4) Re-test Windows Speech Recognition outside ARC

Because ARC relies on the Windows engine, test the mic and language directly in Windows Speech Recognition.

If Windows itself is struggling, ARC will also struggle.

5) Inspect the exact phrase being recognized

Sometimes the phrase is recognized, but with a lower confidence because of:

• Accent change
• Different phrasing
• Short commands sounding similar to other words
• A noisy mic input

If you’re using a phrase like "Are you a bird?", try a simpler test phrase such as:

• "bird"
• "yes"
• "no"

If those work more reliably, the issue is likely recognition complexity, not ARC.

Why it may seem sudden

Low confidence can appear "out of nowhere" after:

• A Windows update
• Microphone device changes
• Audio driver changes
• Different room noise
• ARC language/recognition settings reset
• A mic gain change

Useful reference

• Speech Recognition skill manual:
  https://synthiam.com/Support/Skills/Audio/Speech-Recognition?id=16118

• Microphone/audio troubleshooting:
  https://synthiam.com/Support/troubleshooting/camera-audio-microphone-issues

A quick diagnostic question

Can you tell me:

1. What microphone device Windows is using right now?
2. Whether the Windows speech recognition meter responds clearly?
3. Whether the issue happens with all phrases or only "JD - Are You a Bird?"?

If you want, I can also help you build a simple JavaScript test script in ARC to print the recognized phrase and confidence value so you can see exactly what the engine is hearing.