How Voice Control Works

An Ari OS device is run by speaking to it. Ari OS goes by the principle "say what you see".

Say what you see

Where a computer would have you click a button, the device puts the same word on the screen in capital letters and waits for you to say it. Ari Home shows MY PROGRAMS and MY FILES; saying either opens it.

You do not need to say anything first to get its attention, and you do not need to raise your voice. The device is built to pick a voice out of a noisy environment, and speaking louder usually makes recognition worse rather than better.

When a control has no name

Some things on screen cannot be said. A file called 3454-x.pdf, a scroll arrow, a thumbnail in a row of thumbnails: none of them has a word attached.

The device handles this by putting a number beside anything it cannot name. Say "SELECT ITEM" followed by that number.

The numbers are positions on the current screen, not permanent labels. Scroll the screen and they move to whatever is now in view.

Finding out what you can say

Say "SHOW HELP" on any screen. It lists everything available there: the commands that work everywhere, and whatever that particular screen adds.

Say "HIDE HELP" to close it. The commands keep working while the list is closed. The list is a reminder, not a mode you have to be in.

The numbers stay on screen for a moment after the help closes, so you can read the ones the pop-up was covering.

When the device stops responding

Say "MUTE MICROPHONE" and the device stops listening. A red message appears: Press ACTION button to reactivate microphones.

Speaking cannot undo this, because nothing is listening. Press the Action Button once. A green Start listening message confirms it is back.

This is the single most common reason a device appears to have stopped working. If it is ignoring you, look for the red message before anything else.