Hands free control of Entertainment System

In this article I will describe how to set up an entertainment system that can be completely controlled without the use of your hands. This capability would be of interest to anyone who has limited or no hand dexterity or anyone who has difficulties operating a traditional remote control unit.

Please read my April 13'th 2009 Blog entitled "Head-trackers and dwell-and-click software" as a starting point for this discussion.

The entertainment system can be controlled hands-free as follows:

1. TV - channel/volume up/down, select Guide for immediate viewing or later recording
2. Music - listen to your entire music collection by artist, song, genre, playlist or all your favorite cuts based on a previously assigned rating
3. Pictures - view all your stored digital pictues
4. Videos - view all your stored videos
5. DVD - menu selections, fast forward/reverse, pause, stop, eject
6. FM radio - dial stations by presets or frequency
7. Internet Radio - select free stations by genre

In this blog I will describe what hardware and software you need to set up such a system. All the entertainment and computer hardware is standard, unmodified equipment which is available from any electronics retailers such as BestBuy, Costco etc. The software is standard Microsoft Vista and you also need an amazing free program called Webguide 4 from http://www.asciiexpress.com/webguide (NB: no longer available as of 2012  )

The Big Picture

The remote control

A laptop with head-tracker and dwell-and-click software will play the role of the remote control. In my case I have a standard Windows XP laptop with a Madentec head controller and the free Point-N-Click virtual mouse. The laptop sits on a stand from Airdesks www.airdesks.com. The stand allows me to place the laptop near to where I'm sitting out of the line of sight of the TV. It also gets a hot and heavy laptop off my knees. The laptop has a Wi-fi connection to a Wireless G or N router which is connected to a Hi-speed Internet service.

The entertainment system

The main video/audio component is another PC (laptop but ideally a desktop) with the Microsoft Mediacenter capability. All Vista versions with the exception of Home Basic have this capability. If you purchase a preconfigured Mediacenter computer it will likely have the correct version of Vista but double check this. The mediacenter PC should also be connected to the Wireless router. Preferably via a direct Ethernet cable rather than a wireless antenna.

The connector nightmare

You should carefully check the connection possibilities of the Mediacenter PC to make sure it will connect to your all of your existing components such as TV, antenna, cable/satellite set-top-box (STB) and to your surround sound system if you have one.

For example my STB has S-video out for video and for audio it has RCA and digital coax out so I had to make sure that the built-in TV tuner card in the mediacenter PC had matching input connectors. The first TV I used was a 10 year old analog TV with an S-video input so I had to make sure that the Graphics card in the mediacenter PC had a corresponding S-video output connector. I then upgraded my TV to a new LCD model with HDMI input connectors. My mediacenter PC only had DVI output but I was able to buy a DVI to HDMI adapter cable for a crystal clear digital video signal. Sound was carried over to my surround sound system via a digital coax connection. Sorry to get so technical but this connector business is unnecessarily complex and needs careful consideration. Also there are a variety of ways to make the connections. Bottom line take a list of your existing components to your retailer and ask for a matching mediacenter PC. It might also help if you take close up digital pictures of the connectors (usually the back of your components) and take them with you to the store.

Vista Mediacenter setup

After getting your hardware physically connected properly the Mediacenter setup is the easy part.

You tell the Mediacenter (hereafter referred to as MC) which television service you are with: antenna, Dishnet, Comcast, Bell TV, Rogers, etc and MC will setup your online TV guide. It will help you set up your set-top-box(STB) if you have one. The MC controls the STB channel selection via an IR blaster which comes with the MC hardware.

You tell the MC a little bit about your TV and your audio setup and you should be up and running for TV viewing and PVR function.

Music setup

You can play CD's in the normal fashion by loading each CD individually. But I wanted to have ALL my music from all my CD's available at all times so I decided to "Rip" all of my CD's to my MC computers' library. I used the Microsoft Windows Media Player (WMP) in Rip mode. As soon as you load a CD the WMP will transfer all your tracks to the MC in MP3 format. It will also automatically look up all the album info such as artist and track name, genre etc. so you can easily find the music you want. It even downloads a picture of the album cover art.

You can also import your iTunes tracks and any other MP3 tracks that you already own to add to your library. All tracks must be in either MP3 or WMA format and you simply stick them into the "My Music" folder.

I took the extra step of assigning a 1 to 5 star rating to every track, which in my case indicates how well I like the song. That way I can play all my favorites only or my favorites by genre (i.e. 5 star Reggae) or artist (i.e. 5 star Clapton) or by year etc. I assigned ratings to over 5,000 tracks, lots of work but well worth. Then I quickly backed everything up (12 GB) to three separate places. All this prep work was very labour intensive and I wouldn't want to have to redo everything if my MC computer blew up. Hence all the backups. Paranoid? I don't think so. Hardware failures happen on a regular basis.

FM radio

This function is built into the MC software. Just make sure that your MC TV tuner card includes an FM tuner.

The Magic Ingredient -Webguide 4

2013 - Please note: Webguide 4 is no longer available on the Asciiexpress website. I am still happily using it on my Vista MCE. It may be available on another Website so a Google search may find it. I am currently developing another solution that works on Windows 7 and 8. I will Blog my new solution soon.

Please note that Webguide 4 only works on a Vista Mediacenter computer. It does not work with Windows 7.

This delightful free piece of software allows your head-controlled laptop to be the remote control for all the functions and content of your Mediacenter computer.

Simply download and install Webguide 4 from www.asciiexpress.com/webguide on the mediacenter PC. There is a simple installation process to follow and when finished Webguide will give you a special website name.

To turn the laptop into a Mediacenter remote control you start your browser (Internet Explorer and Google Chrome are both ok, not sure about Firefox) and enter that special website name that Webguide provided for you on the MC. You then enter your userid/password and turn on the check mark next to Remote Control in settings which is the box with the 3 dots in the top right side of the Webguide 4 screen. Click on the picture of the Remote control Icon next to the 3 dots and a virtual remote control should appear on your laptop screen. Your headtracker and dwell-and-click software should now facilitate complete control of the mediacenter functions on a totally separate MC computer.

Just to clarify: the remote control computer (laptop in my scenario) can run any O/S since it communicates with the MC via a standard browser. Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 will all work on the laptop. The MC computer must run Vista only because of Webguide 4 compatibility issues.

Access your media from anywhere in the house.

If you turn the remote control checkmark off in settings then your family can be watching the main mediacenter TV in one room and you could be anywhere else in your residence or outside (in reach of your wireless router) and independently watch other MC video content or listen to your audio library content. Webguide 4 turns your laptop into a Mediacenter extender!

Final thoughts

There are many ways to implement this kind of system. I have heard that a Slingbox from Sling Media can also provide remote control functionality. I chose the Webguide 4 solution because it was free and was specifically designed for the Vista mediacenter. It works extremely well and is very stable. You need loads of hard disk space on the MC especially if you are planning to store many hours of video. I have a 500 GB drive and have occasionally been bumping against the limit.

Head-Trackers and Dwell-and-Click software

Mouse and keyboard replacement alternatives

Question: How do disabled people who don't have the use of their hands operate a computer?

There are many solutions. I will write about some solutions that I have personally used and make some recommendations.

The first main solution is voice recognition software.

The computer responds to voice commands to either control the computer or to generate text by simply speaking into a microphone. The main product in this category is the excellent Dragon Naturally Speaking 8. N.B. I have not used the latest version 10. Nevertheless version 8 is simply brilliant, reliable, accurate and easy to use. However for me it does have a few limitations. Dragon V8 works best when it is completely quiet in my house. With teenagers, TV, dog, music it is seldom quiet around here. I also didn't like using a head-set for extended periods. No matter how ergonomic, the head-set tends to get uncomfortable after a while. Plus a head-set cuts you off from your environment (family, entertainment etc.). I haven't used Dragon for months, in fact I haven't even installed it on my new laptop yet (later I will for sure).

For some users the main barrier to using voice recognition software is voice issues. Strong accents, weak voice, breath or lung issues or the inability to speak all make voice recognition software a challenge that sometimes cannot be overcome.

Personally I would definitely use Voice Recognition if I were writing a book, large essay etc.(in a quiet environment). As an experiment I decided to write this particular blog not with Dragonspeak but with the following alternative 3 tools:

1) a head-tracker
2) dwell-and-click software
3) the free on-screen keyboard found on every Microsoft Windows system under Accessories/Accessibility

The head-tracker works in noisy environments and no head-set is required so you can interact with your family, watch TV or listen to music while working on the PC. In fact my stereo is blasting my tunes at full volume right now and Dragon V8 just wouldn't work properly in this environment. Let's break down an alternative set of solutions starting with the mouse.

Mouse Functionality

A mouse performs primarily 2 major functions a) to move the cursor around the screen and b) to perform various clicks.

The cursor movement functionality is performed by head-trackers (which move the mouse cursor around the screen). I will review 3 head-tracker solutions in this article. The click button functionality is provided by dwell-and-click software which allows you to do all the mouse button functions (left, right, double left, click and drag, scroll etc.) by simply holding the cursor over a desired area on the screen for a predetermined (configurable) amount of time. I'm so used to the head-tracker/dwell-and-click functionality that I'm typing this entire article with just a Madentec TrackerPro head tracker ( www.madentec.com ) and FREE dwell-and-click software called point-n-click www.polital.com/pnc/ and the free virtual keyboard on your Windows computer. Go to Start/All programs/Accessories/Accessibility/On-screen keyboard. Here are the details.

Head-Trackers

The Madentec Trackerpro costs around $995USD. The Madentec head-tracker has been flawless for me. It works in all light conditions and even complete darkness! You just plug it into a USB jack and it works instantly. No software drivers required. It follows a small reflective dot which you can stick on your glasses, hat, visors etc. The moving dot moves the cursor. If you have good head control you would put the dot somewhere on your head (glasses, hat, visors etc.). If you have good arm movement you would put the dot somewhere on the arm. The head-tracker can be pointed anywhere, even your feet.

There are many other head-trackers. One of the most popular and affordable ($399USD) head-trackers is called Smartnav by Naturalpoint www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/

This device was originally developed for gamers and was later adapted as an assistive device by the addition of dwell-and-click software (cost around $100USD). Like the Madentec the Smartnav also tracks a reflective dot. I have not tried this tracker but it seems to be a good one according to the testimonials on their web site.

There is also a completely free head-tracker if you already own a Web-cam. It is called a camera mouse www.cameramouse.org/index.html . It tracks a unique feature on your face such as the bridge of your nose etc. I've tried this and it works quite well. It's not as precise as the Madentec and it doesn't work in the dark or poor lighting conditions but it is well worth a try. It might just work for you.

Dwell-and-click software (Mouse button functionality)

Madentec sells a solution called Magicursor ($195USD). I have used this solution and have been very happy with it. The only downside is the cost.

I have never used the Naturalpoint Smartnav dwell and click software ($100USD) so I can't endorse it. However the numerous testimonials on their web-site are quite positive.

A 3'rd very compelling alternative is completely free! This is a dwell-and-click software called point-n-click www.polital.com/pnc/ . This software is extremely feature rich and stable. In fact I love it so much that I use it rather than the Madentec Magicursor software that I already paid for with my TrackerPro head-tracker package. I've also tried point-n-click on both Windows XP and Vista and it works on both.

What can you do with this technology?

I operate my laptop completely handsfree. In fact in over 4 years of use I haven't found anything that I cannot do, period.

With the help of a head tracker/dwell-and-click software I have implemented full unconstrained Internet surfing. I also use Skype for PC to telephone calling with the Skypeout feature www.skype.com , a must for emergencies when I'm alone. Also I can use my laptop computer as a television remote control: volume, channel up/down, guide etc. This remote also controls my entire music collection, pictures, FM radio and PVR. I use the standard Microsoft Vista Media-center hardware and software to do this. The Media center PC is connected to my flat screen TV. I use the free Webguide software www.asciiexpress.com/webguide to control my Mediacentre PC from my laptop. It essentially turns my laptop into a hands-free remote control. It is a very functional setup and quite reliable. The head-tracker and dwell-and-click software is an essential and integral part of my setup. I plan to blog more about this Mediacentre setup later.

Conclusion and recommendation

The most expensive total solution is Madentec for around $1,200USD for the tracker and clicking software package. But it is rock solid and easy to use.

The Smartnav is more reasonably priced but I haven't tried it.

The free camera mouse is not as precise and doesn't work in poor light situations. But if you combine this with the free dwell-and-click software you have a compelling total solution that costs absolutely nothing.

You can also mix and match. For instance the Madentec TrackerPro also works with the free dwell-and-click software for $995USD total solution. This is what I'm using.

I don't see why the $399USD Smartnav gamer version shouldn't work just as well with the free dwell-and-click software.

A footnote: after writing this article totally with a head-tracker I'll probably seriously consider writing the next article (due to my stiff neck) with Dragon voice recognition (in a quiet place) and then doing the revisions/corrections with the head-tracker. Overall this might have been a faster process.

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