Vector does not understand me: Troubleshooting Speech Recognition

Sections:

Tips || Troubleshooting Steps || CCIS || Vector supports English

Tips

• Make sure you have selected US, GB or AU English based on your accent, not your location
• Familiarize yourself with the Vector companion app where you can find a list of Voice Commands and tips on how to construct them
• Make sure Vector is fully charged - he will not accept any Voice Commands when he is low on battery and on his way back to the charger
• Press Vector’s Back Button once to bypass using the Wake Word (“Hey Vector”) if Vector is not reacting to this. Continue by giving a Voice Command
• Remember to wait for the earcon “ding” and the blue Back Light before giving a Voice Command
• Vector will let you know if he cannot recognize or perform the command you give him. In this instance, try the following troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Steps

• Place Vector on a hard, flat surface that is not his Space – he may not perform all Voice Commands if he is being held
• Similar to a person, Vector finds it more difficult to understand when there is background noise
• Speak clearly, loudly and be close (but not too close…) to Vector when you speak to him
• If Vector is moving or making noise, wait for him to stop before speaking to him. You can also pet him so he focuses and stops moving
• Speak at a normal speed, not any slower than you usually would. This would be like with speaking louder to someone who does not understand your language… it does not help them understand
• Enunciate – just like Customer Care reps over the phone, Vector really needs to hear those Ps&Bs, your Fs&Ss, your Ts&Ds, your M&Ns
• Remember that you are not having a conversation – Vector will not understand a Voice Command if it is mixed into a sentence e.g. “Come here!” is a Voice Command while “Oh Vector, you’re so cute, come here, I want to pet you” is not
• Make sure you only ask him one thing at a time. He will not understand compound commands:
• First: Hey Vector [wait] Come here!
• Then: Hey Vector [wait] Give me a fist bump!
• Not: Hey Vector [wait] Come here and give me a fist bump!

Using the Customer Care Info Screen (CCIS) to test the microphones

1. Place Vector on his charger and plug the charger in
2. [If Vector is booting up, wait for the “V” to finish]
3. Double click Vector’s Back Button
4. Raise and lower Vector’s lift
5. Lower and raise Vector’s head
6. Press his Back Button 6 times
7. If the MICS indicate a positive value, the microphones are in working order. If MICS indicates a value of “0”, please contact Customer Care via email at support@digitaldreamlabs.com for further help

If only 1 type of speech recognition (e.g. Voice Command or Vector Q&A) is not working as expected, please contact Customer Care (support@digitaldreamlabs.com). This may be due to an issue with a Digital Dream Labs Cloud Service.

If Vector’s MICS are working fine and he reacts to bypassing “Hey Vector” with his Back Button press but you still struggle to use Voice Commands or Ask Vector, check your WiFi connection – intermittent or poor WiFi quality may affect how well Vector can recognise speech and process reactions.

If your WiFi connection is also fine, please continue reading.

Vector supports English

While the richness and diversity of language is a wonderful thing, unfortunately neither Vector nor any other devices that use speech recognition can cover the full spectrum of different English dialects and accents.

If you have followed the above, you have ruled out a technical defect, as well as other potential factors that can affect the performance of Vectors Speech Recognition. As such, it seems that your little robot generally struggles with your particular intonation, dialect, accent and/or regionalisms.

We trust that over time, the voice recognition success rate will be greatly improved.