"Speaking" TV remote control - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Greybeard
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2023, 11:51:40 am
content: Hello colleagues,I'm thinking about how I could convert a TV remote control for a visually impaired person so that the keys are announced via voice ("louder, quieter, mute, station forward... etc.") as soon as a finger touches a button.For this I would need...1. Buttons that recognize a touch but also close contact when pressed.2. Electronics that announce the keys when touched.Does anyone know of a similar project?I'm grateful for any hint or advice...

author: Buriedcode
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2023, 02:09:23 pm
content: Whilst it sounds like a good solution - I would have thought embossing the buttons with distinctive bumps - like braille - would be better. Or perhaps a custom remote with a more ditributed layout of buttons - so the groups (volume+/-, channel +/-, number buttons) are all sufficiently far apart that the user can easily feel which group they are touching.I'm not visually impaired, but I often don't need to look at my tv remote to know which button I'm pressing.With that said, there are some"mp3 player" modules from places like adafruit that are pretty small, and can be powered down - so they dont use up much power in standby, and plenty of 8-bit microcontrollers have the facility to sense touch buttons. But retrofitting an existing remote will be difficult as the buttons are usually non-conductive rubber (with conductive rubber on the underside), so it looks like it would be easier to make something from scratch, and provide the facility to emulate or learn from existing remotes.

author: KeithBrown
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2023, 02:18:18 pm
content: A good and interesting idea. I have a visually impaired friend who uses a universal remote, but that is not what you want.It seems to me that we are beyond adding some circuitry into an existing remote (2 reasons: available volume and the need to have switches that have two levels of actuation), so we are into a custom build.I'd start with a simple Arduino, Ken Sheriff's IR library, and the Talkie speech library (I've used the first, not the last--beware that the Talkie library seems to need a fairly powerful Arduino). For the two function buttons I'd suggest a delay instead: only send the IR signal out once the speech has finished if and only if the button is still pressed.The number of needed buttons I would minimize by using a multi-position switch whose position can be felt by the user to multiplex between functional groups of commands.I imagine that the biggest challenges will be packaging and low power since it likely wants to be battery powered.Hope this provides a starting point!

author: hexreader
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2023, 02:48:37 pm
content: Is it an IR remote, or Bluetooth ?If Bluetooth, then I would give up right away.If IR, then I would leave the IR handset alone and build a receiver that does the talking.Please supply more information about what TV you have and whether it is IR and/or Bluetooth.+1 for the idea of gluing some sort of braille-like stickers to the common keys of the existing remote. More practical and more sensible. Would even work for Bluetooth

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2023, 03:10:22 pm
content: I am not aware of a combined pushbutton + capacitive touch detector, which seems to be what you are asking for. Two alternatives come to mind, both not too practical however:A two-stage mechanical pushbutton (light press and stronger press), like used e.g. on cameras for auto-focus and shutter control. This would be nice, since one could do a strong press right away if one is certain to be on the right button. Unfortunately I can only find bulky and expensive buttons off the shelf, e.g.https://www.otto-controls.com/p2-3-position-momentary-action-pushbutton.Rely purely on capacitive touch, combining "hover" (for the announcement) and "touch" (to trigger the actual operation). Various capacitive touch sensor ICs, including touch-enabled microcontroller GPIOs, support hover detection. It might however be finicky, may get annoying that the remote talks too much, and probably would consume more power than you like as it constantly watches out for an approaching finger. EDIT: Also, not having any haptic feedback while searching for the right button is undesirable.Personally, I would probably stick with simple single-action pushbuttons, and use "short press" to trigger an announcement, and "longer press" to trigger the action. If the user still has good motoric control, "long press" does not have to be all that long -- say half a second -- so using this should not get annoying.You would need to program you own microcontroller to drive this; so it would not be a case of upgrading an existing remote control, but essentially building a new one. If you choose a microcontroller with sufficient flash memory and a DAC, it could directly play pre-recorded speech too.

author: DC1MC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 02, 2023, 03:35:01 pm
content: What @ebastler said is IMO the best and cheapest solution, it also has the advantage that an exiting universal remote could be retrofitted with a new PCB.Also there is another way that IMO is even easier to do, at least for development if not for end result:Because there are a gadzillion of remotes with their own protocol make first an IR board and a MCU that can play Wav/MP3 and have it near the TV, receiving the remote's signals and "talking" the command it "heard", if you want you can put it to cover the original IR sensor of the TV and insert itself with an LED emitter, to simulate long and sort presses. It has the huge advantage that you can use it with any remote.Good luck,DC1MC

author: darkspr1te
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 03, 2023, 05:20:43 am
content: There is a company that produces remote for visually impaired, I think the name was Chameleon, One model they did had a lcd and vibe feed back for the touch buttons, so if you held finger on one 1 it would buzz the motor in this 1 space 1 space buzzer, for two it would be two buzzes then space etc. it also would speak the channel selected and it was all uploaded via usb from a pc app. that was a good ten years ago so am assuming they are still around.I think the company was famous for it's "As seen on TV" universal 152 in one remotes , children's remotes, remotes for the elderly but alas a quick search found nothing i remember.darkspr1te

author: Greybeard
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2023, 09:32:49 am
content: Thanks for all your replies.I want to keep it as simple as possible, so I want to use the original remote control PCB and an add-on-PCB with all the dual function buttons and a (bigger) additional power supply in a new bigger case.I also want to avoid programming an extra uC. So I need a speech module that could play a number (16-20) of short mp3/wav files on a number different capacitive or other aproximity sensors input.Maybe I could use a "foil" (membrane) keyboard as capacitive sensor and its switching function...Here are my thoughts about your suggestions:1) Chameleon or Kameleon TV remote:Couldn't find anything in a quick google search. I can imagine as it would be kind of annoying to count the vibration bursts (f.e. "99"), it also could be difficult to define "morse" codes for "louder, quieter, mute" etc. functions.2) Receiving IR commands by an independent module, translating to speech and delayed IR transfer to TV:Thats a nice idea, but i maybe cause timing issues as if you want to send a more-than-one-digit-station-number, you normally have to push the buttons relatively quickly, before the TV will decode it as one station number (e.g. "123" instead of "1"..."2"... "3").3) 2-stage-mechanical-switches:Could be a possible alternative. I'll try to find any... (your link seems not to work from here).4) purely capacitive touch, combining "hover" (for the announcement) and "touch":As you wrote: remote will probably talk "too much" and missing haptic feedback to the user.5) simple single-action pushbuttons, and "short press" to trigger an announcement, and "longer press":Possible timing problems, see #2)6) embossing the buttons with distinctive bumps - like braille:I've already thougt about, but the person also has bad haptic feeling in the finger tips.It should be possible to memorize the position of the buttons and counting x-y-position on the keyboard before pressing. But the person is also a little bit confused, so that would be a problem.@hexreaderIt's a PHILIPS TV with IR remote control.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2023, 09:59:08 am
content: Quote from: Greybeard on November 06, 2023, 09:32:49 amArgh, I fell into my favorite forum software trap again, where the closing period in the sentence gets added to the link. I have edited my post above.QuoteRight, that won't work if you want to keep the existing remote control logic in place. It would start sending IR commands right away.But I am not sure whether that approach is workable anyway. Depending on how the existing remote scans its keypad, it might be a challenge to read it via a separate logic in parallel, without interfering with the original logic. Also, you will most likely end up needing some customized logic anyway (i.e. needing your own microcontroller on board). Why not let it do the IR transmission as well? There should be plenty of open source examples around for that part of the project.

author: Greybeard
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2023, 10:19:44 am
content: Quote from: ebastler on November 06, 2023, 09:59:08 amThe link is working now... but the switches are so huuuuuge!Quote from: ebastler on November 06, 2023, 09:59:08 amI just wanted to re-build the button matrix with my own button contacts. No decoding necessary.Speech module will be activated by capacitive sensor to whatever-needed-by-module interface.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2023, 11:05:15 am
content: Quote from: Greybeard on November 06, 2023, 10:19:44 amI was not thinking of decoding, just matrix scanning. If one processor scans the columns, the other would need to "watch" that rather than trying to scan the columns on its own.Of course, if you can find a way to add electrically separate capacitive sensors, that problem does not exist. I hope you find something along those lines; seems like a tall order...

author: Buriedcode
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2023, 03:08:21 pm
content: I would say adding "touch" or switch sensing to theoriginalremote PCB will be significantly more difficult/complicated than doing the actual IR encoding on the microcontroller - IR protocols are trivial to implement, and having full control over whats sent by IR means you can change the firmware depending on the TV remote model you're trying to mimic.Using speech synthesizer modules, even the nice easy simple ones will still require some logic progamming and will likely be more complicated than the IR protocol, so I don't see that you're making life easier by using the original remote PCB.The downside of course, is the hassle of getting all the scan codes and the protocol from the remote in question - or have the user "learn" from the original remote, but this only has to be done once. And you're still going to have to map what sounds are played with what buttonfor each model of remote you're going to mod, as each one will be wired differently (4x8 matrix? 6x7?) so why not just streamline the process:Get your new remote to say what button to press on the original - it reads that code, stores it, and acklowledges, then moves onto the next. That way your new remote knows which button does whatandthe IR codes to send. Once that process is done you're all set.The other downside - which is a problem I've found with my projects - is finding a suitable enclosure. Sure, Hammond do some nice cases, but very few actually look anything like tv remotes, and are often bulky, and adding lots of buttons to it is a real hassle. Which brings us back to you using your original remote - but with your own PCB - so you can reuse the case, and the buttons (along with its nice layout) but won't have to do fiddly wiring to "mod" the original board.I should also add, many remotes simply do not have enough space inside for a speaker - even the very thin ones, or even an add-on PCB with >1mm thick parts on. Unless you're talking about specialist remotes that are larger. And you would have to hand-wire from the buttons to the add-on board, because often the chips used in remotes are "epoxy blob" jobs. For a one-off, its doable, but I do believe its much more difficult to "mod" than to replace the board.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2023, 03:15:49 pm
content: It may be desirable to retain the orignal remote's enclosure and especially its keypad (colors and layout), if the user is already familiar with those. But I would still be inclined to replace the PCB and processor inside. Probably after obtaining a second remote on ebay etc., to avoid a few weeks of TV downtime while the project is being built and tested, or the risk of permanent downtime if the project should fail...

author: abeyer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 12:34:19 am
content: Quote from: Greybeard on November 06, 2023, 10:19:44 amThese look at least a bit smaller. Still not tiny, but perhaps a good size given you say the intended user also has limited hand sensation:https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/e-switch/PB300DTQ/6126492

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 08:11:04 am
content: For the two-stage switch: look at Panasonic EVP-AXBA1A.I found it on Digikey under tact switches, switch function “off-mom-mom”.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 08:21:17 am
content: Quote from: tooki on November 07, 2023, 08:11:04 amNice find, thank you!Now I need to think of a project too to use these...

author: Greybeard
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2023, 03:09:15 pm
content: I found a prototype "Tactile + Cap Touch Switch"https://connect.nissha.com/ime/en/tactile_switch/

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2023, 08:00:04 am
content: Quote from: ebastler on November 07, 2023, 08:21:17 amDepending on how reproducible their switching points are, one thought is a musical keyboard of some sort — the most basic type of key velocity detection in commercial products is done by having two contacts that close in sequence, giving a clue to the key’s velocity (and thus how hard the player is striking it).Ooh… I can think of a sort of torture device computer keyboard: one that types lowercase letters if pressed softly and caps if pressed hard.