Browsing by Author "Deinhofer, Martin"

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    PublicationOpen Access
    Analysis of Mycroft and Rhasspy Open Source voice assistants
    (2020) Lumbreras Sádaba, Carlos; Serrano Arriezu, Luis Javier; Deinhofer, Martin; Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Industrial, Informática y de Telecomunicación; Industria, Informatika eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzako Goi Mailako Eskola Teknikoa
    Technological advances in recent years have made machines and intelligent devices made accessible by voice control to the average user. More and more voice assistants are being offered in the market. It is necessary to analyse them to see what advantages and disadvantages each one has in order to identify which one is more convenient for each specific user. The most popular voice assistants follow the same approach of accessing the users' data to facilitate and improve the product development, and on the other hand, get an additional benefit from the handling of this data. The emergence of alternatives with different approaches has shown that it is possible to have quality alternatives with a different focus. Analysing the different Open Source options in the market, the Mycroft and Rhasspy systems have been selected for further analysis due to the characteristics they present. They are two alternatives that offer a series of advantages related to privacy and accessibility that are not offered by the big players in the market. While Mycroft focuses on a system that works in the cloud but allows the user to have control over their data, Rhasspy proposes the use of a system that works entirely locally. The use of these assistants with an openHAB server has allowed the development of a very interesting system. The openHAB server acts as an intermediate platform between voice assistants and intelligent devices. This makes possible to create a system that allows to control all these devices of the home by voice. It has been seen that these systems allow a very simple configuration. At the same time is obtained a very optimum performance in relation to the detection of commands and their subsequent execution.
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    PublicationOpen Access
    The lipmouse: a labially controlled mouse cursor emulation device for people with special needs
    (2014) Ibáñez Flamarique, Alberto; Veigl, Christoph; Deinhofer, Martin; Serrano Arriezu, Luis Javier; Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales y de Telecomunicación; Telekomunikazio eta Industria Ingeniarien Goi Mailako Eskola Teknikoa; University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien (Austria); Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa
    People with disabilities are part of the society. However, simple actions in their daily life, such as using a computer become a challenge. In many cases they need the assistance of another person. Assistive technologies help performing these tasks and help people with special needs to live more independently. In 2010, a collaborative project called "AsTeRICS" (Assistive Technology Rapid Integration and Construction Set) was initiated and partly funded by the European Commission, where 9 international partner organisations worked together to develop a free, open-source, flexible and affordable assistive technology tool. A mouse cursor emulator controlled through the lips was developed for the AsTeRICS platform. This device was called "Lipmouse" and was intended to provide a way of accessing a computer, tablet or notebook to a person with an impairment in her/his upper limbs. This thesis is a continuation and enhancement of the Lipmouse development. The improvements accomplished can be summarized in three blocks: The first part of this thesis consisted of the development of a portable version of the Lipmouse. The initial version worked via USB cable. For that purpose, the new version incorporates a Bluetooth module and a battery power supply system. The second part was focused on the design of a PCB where all electronic components of the Lipmouse were integrated. Finally, the Lipmouse source code was enhanced in two ways: The firmware of the Lipmouse was modified for supporting the new functionalities described above. On the other hand, a specific software plugin for the integration of the Lipmouse into the AsTeRICS framework has been developed.