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Browser Microphone And Speaker

These two top bar buttons let a web browser act as ARCx's microphone or speaker. For example, you can talk to the robot through your phone from across the room, or hear the robot's speech on your laptop while ARCx runs on a robot with no speaker.

Any number of browsers can have ARCx open, so you pick which one by pressing the button in that browser. Only one browser at a time can be the microphone, and only one can be the speaker. They can be the same browser or different ones.

Where to find it: Top bar, to the left of the Athena sparkle button. The buttons only appear when Options → Preferences sets Microphone or Speaker to A web browser. The microphone button appears for the microphone setting and the speaker button for the speaker setting. The same buttons also appear in the bar of the Custom UI viewer.

Contents

  1. Microphone button
  2. Speaker button
  3. Notes
  4. Troubleshooting

Microphone button

  1. In the browser you want to talk into, press the microphone button.
  2. The browser asks for permission to use its microphone. Allow it.
  3. The button turns green. This browser is now ARCx's microphone.
  4. Press it again to stop using it.
Button Meaning
Outline microphone, normal colour This browser is not the microphone. The tooltip says which browser is, for example ARCx is using the microphone of Chrome on Android at 192.168.1.20., or that no browser is and ARCx is using its own computer's microphone.
Filled microphone, green This browser is ARCx's microphone. The tooltip says whether ARCx is listening through it right now.
Filled microphone, orange This browser is the microphone, but it reported a problem, such as the microphone being unplugged. The tooltip gives the problem.

The browser only records while something in ARCx is listening, such as a speech recognition skill. The browser's recording light is not on all the time.

Speaker button

The speaker button, green while this browser plays ARCx audio

  1. In the browser you want to hear ARCx through, press the speaker button.
  2. The button turns green. ARCx's audio, such as speech and sounds, now plays out of this browser.
  3. Press it again to stop. Audio goes back to the computer ARCx runs on.
Button Meaning
Muted speaker, normal colour This browser is not the speaker. The tooltip says which browser is, or that audio plays out of the computer ARCx runs on.
Speaker, green ARCx's audio plays out of this browser.
Speaker, orange This browser has the speaker, but the browser has not allowed the page to play sound yet. Browsers only play sound after the page has been clicked. Click anywhere on the page to start it.
Speaker, normal colour, with the filled icon This browser has the speaker, but the project plays its audio out of an EZB's speaker while that EZB is connected. The tooltip says which EZB.

Notes

  • The last browser to press a button takes over. If another browser presses the microphone or speaker button, it becomes the microphone or speaker, and the first browser lets go.
  • Until a browser claims the microphone, or after it lets go, ARCx uses the microphone of the computer it runs on. The same goes for the speaker.
  • If you reload the page, the browser claims the microphone or speaker again by itself, as long as it is the same tab.
  • The buttons are greyed out for a moment while the page starts, and while a claim is in progress. A claim waits up to five minutes for you to answer the browser's permission prompt.
  • For how the browser microphone fits into speech recognition, see How To: Speech Recognition.

Troubleshooting

When the microphone can't be used, ARCx shows a message titled This browser's microphone:

Message What to do
A browser only lets a page use its microphone when the page was opened over HTTPS, or on the same computer as ARCx (localhost)... To use the microphone of a phone or another computer, start ARCx on an https:// address with a certificate. A browser on the same computer as ARCx works without it.
This browser was not allowed to use its microphone. Allow it in the site settings next to the address bar, then try again. You refused, or earlier refused, the permission prompt. Change it in the browser's site settings.
This device has no microphone the browser can use. Plug in or enable a microphone on the device the browser runs on.
The microphone could not be opened. Another program may be using it, or the operating system is blocking the browser from it. Close other programs using the microphone, and check the operating system's privacy settings for the browser.

When the speaker can't be claimed, a message titled This browser's speaker gives the reason.