The Mobile E-mail Speech System (M.E.S.S) is a stand alone e-mail system which can receive e-mails from an Internet Service Provider and translates the ASCII text into speech.  This system uses cellular technology to retrieve the e-mails.  The M.E.S.S. is a voice activated system.  This system has been designed to be implemented in a vehicle.  It is primarily geared for the person who is constantly on the go.   It will be a quick and effective way of accessing information while travelling, commuting,  or being away from the office.  It will be a safer alternative as opposed to using a Laptop and driving at the same time.

This system can also be used for a different purpose of aiding the blind.  One of the unique characteristics of our project is the text to speech feature which converts text e-mails into speech to be heard by its users.  Thus, it can be a standalone e-mail retrieval system in a residence.

 

2.0 Requirements

The M.E.S.S. will be able to download e-mails from a mobile location.  The system will then parse the message to remove unwanted portions such as headers and attachments.  The M.E.S.S. will then dictate the message out to the user.  The user will interface with the system using voice commands. The physical layout of the M.E.S.S. will consist of two main components.  The user interface will be implanted in the dashboard of the vehicle, while the processing unit will be located in a larger area such as the trunk or glove compartment. In greater detail the requirements are:

 

Connection / Download Requirements

• The ability to choose from various different sites to download the e-mails.

• The ability to download messages from a remote site using cellular technology along with normal computer to computer communication as per normal dial-up connectivity.

• The system will download as many e-mails as possible and store them into memory for user access.

 

E-mail Parsing

• The ability to parse the e-mail messages to remove all unwanted headers as well as attachments in order to avoid unnecessary unintelligible speech from being outputted.

• The ability to have the message ready for the RC Systems Double-Talk Text-to-Speech converter.

 

User Interface Requirements

• The user will have the ability to repeat a message, skip a message or listen to a previous message.

• The ability to read the e-mail message to the user in a comprehensible voice.

• The user interface must be large enough to allow the user to easily see it.  It must also be well lit so that it can be used in all lighting conditions.

• The system must be able to transmit the output of the system through the stereo system of the vehicle.  This will ensure that unnecessary  speaker components will not be required.

• The ability to recognize four (4) different users by their voices.  This will be achieved by having the waveforms of the users saved in the memory of the system.  The system will then attempt to correlate between the inputted voice and the saved waveforms.

• To allow for hands-free operation using voice commands.  This will be achieved by using a microphone and speech recognition software.

 

2.1  Desirable Features

• Although two-way e-mail communications through speech is desirable, we have decided to concentrate on just the one-way communication system for this present project.  As time permits we will attempt to make this part of the project possible.

 

3.0 Preliminary Design

Our M.E.S.S. system will be comprised of a number of various components.  These will include:  

1. RC Systems DoubleTalk (text-to-voice converter-Hardware)

2.  Client PC

3. Vehicle sound system

4. User Control Interface

5. Cellular phone

6. FM Transmitter

 

3.1 Modules

Our M.E.S.S. system will be made up of three modules:

1. A User Interface

2. Client

3. RC systems RC8650 Doubletalk chipset

4. Cellular Connection

5. FM Transmitter

 

3.1.1 User Interface

This module will act as the conduit for human to machine interaction. The user will be able to interact with the system by using voice commands, and a keypad. The interface will communicate back to the user through an LCD display and speech through a vehicles speaker system.                            

 

3.1.2 Setting up Users                                                                              

First the user interface must be set up for all of the required users. (Maximum 4) The interface setup should be configured while the car is stationary for safety reasons. A new system will ask for the following questions to get the system configured properly. 

The system will ask a new user to be created. The users will be assigned the number in the order they are entered into the system. They will be assigned a five number PIN for a backup log-in password.

Next, each user will be asked to give a sample of their voice saying a certain phrase. This sample will then be recorded in the embedded PC as a WAV file. These samples will be used for security. The users must say the corresponding phrase to log in. If a non-user tries to log-on, then the PC will compare their voice to the samples in memory and deny them access. The user can also use their five number PIN to log in.

The next step in user setup is to set up the Internet Service Provider. The system will ask the user for the number of ISP's (Maximum 3). It will then ask for the ISP's phone number and the user's username and password. Then it will proceed to get information on the next ISP if required.

Next, the voice commands recognition setup will take place. This will be done using software. This requires the users to read text into the PC so it can understand their voice. This will allow for you to speak commands to the PC to control the system.

 

3.1.3  Deleting or Modifying Users or ISP's

User's can go into the setup and delete themselves or one of their ISP's. The user must first be logged into the system as themselves.

 

3.1.4 Logging In

Once the system verifies that the person is an appropriate user, it will bring up the user's ISP list. The user will then be able to say the corresponding ISP number or press the button next to the ISP and will be automatically logged into the appropriate ISP.

 

3.1.5 Retrieving Mail

After the user is logged in, as many new messages as our PC can handle will be down loaded. The graphical interface will then display all the message's information on the screen. The message at the very top will be highlighted. To have it read out the user will say the following command "Read". If the user wants to select a different message they can scroll down to the other messages by using the voice command "Scroll Up" or "Scroll Down" The system will only copy the e-mail from the ISP. So when the system is turned off all of the messages will be lost on the PC. And the e-mails will also remain on the ISP server.

 

3.2 The Client PC

This module will create, delete, modify and store user information, recognize users through voice, connect via modem and cell-phone to an ISP as specified and download e-mail. It will then parse the message to remove unwanted headers and attachments.  The e-mails will then be converted into ASCII text and are sent to the text-to-speech converter. The functions above will be performed using a C programmed interface. It will also allow for speech recognition commands to download and hear the messages. Speech recognition commands will be performed using software.

 

3.3 The RC Systems DoubleTalk ASCII Text-to-Speech Processor

This module will convert the ASCII formatted text into speech and parlay the message to the user, through the vehicle's sound system. The program will execute so that the e-mail's text is sent to the Text to Speech processor. The speech will be transmitted to the sound system using a FM transmitter.

 

3.4 Cellular Connection

The cellular connection will be achieved using a Motorola DPC 650 cell phone, which will be connected to a modem on the laptop. There will be a cellular phone adapter that will connect to the modem on the laptop.  There will also be a modem in the server.  The connection that is used will be a dial-up connection.

 

3.5 FM Transmitter

To connect the M.E.S.S. to the vehicle audio system we will implement a frequency modulation transmitter.  This device will transmit the output from the DoubleTalk processor to the FM receiver in the vehicle.  The FM receiver will be tuned to the appropriate frequency in order to receive the transmission.  The transmission will be fairly low in power to avoid being received by other vehicles.

 

4.0 DETAILED DESIGN

 

4.1 The User Interface

 

The user interface will serve as a visual and audio communication link to the user. This system is composed of a dash mounted condenser microphone, a LCD display, a FM transmitter and the vehicles audio system. This assembly will then have links to the embedded PC modem unit.

 

The user interface will have the following displayed when it is first initiated or after it is reset.

 

        1- Create a new user

 

First a user must be set up for the system to operate. The user must press the button next to the phrase.  The first person will be assigned number one, user two is number two and so one to number four. The user will also be able to type in an eight character name. The display will come up with the following.

    

     Enter a nick name (Max 8 char)

 

This will be done using the numerical keypad. Similar to a phone pad.  When the button is pressed a new screen will come up with the following.

 

     User Number 1 +Nick Name

     Security setup

     Voice sample

     Press and hold the red button and say a short phrase into the

     microphone

 

When the button is released the system will ask the following

 

     Repeat the above procedure

 

When the button is released the screen will change to the following if both samples match.

 

     Voice Security Sample approved and setup

     Press the red button to continue

 

If a clear sample couldn't be distinguished then the system will ask for a new sample.

Next the system will display the following.

 

     Speech recognition Setup for User 1

     Press the red button to continue

 

The system will then run the speech recognition software for it to learn the user's voice.

Next the system will display the following.

 

     Enter number of ISP's (Max 3)

 

If the input is invalid then it will ask again. The system will assign the first ISP 1 and so on.  The system will then display the following

 

     Enter ISP phone number (***-***-**** Format)

 

If the input is invalid it will ask for it again. Next it will ask and display

 

     Enter your ISP username

 

You can enter letters using the numerical keypad. Just like the letters on a phone number pad.  It ask you to enter it once then again to confirm it.  And then ask and display:

 

     Enter your password

 

It ask you to enter it once then again to confirm it.

 

If the number of ISP's was greater then one, the ISP questions will be asked again and will be assigned number two and so on. After the user is successfully created the screen will come up with the following.

 

    1. Retrieve mail

    2. Setup Menu

        1 Create New User

        2 Delete User

        3 Modify User

   

Number two was explained above.  Number three will display the following.  It will only display the users that are setup.

 

     User 1

     User 2

     User 3

     User 4

 

The user will then select the 1,2,3, or 4. To delete a user the user will have to supply the correct voice sample.  After the user is deleted it will ask the following.  Do you wish to delete anymore?  After the user is finished deleting users the system will go to the

main menu.  Modify user will allow the user to change or delete ISP information. It will also allow for voice sample modification.

 

If number 1 is selected the system will display the following.

 

     User 1

     User 2

     User 3

     User 4

 

The user must select the correct user.  After the correct user is chosen the system will ask for the user's phrase. It will then compare it to the sample in storage and see if they match. After the user gets through security the system will display the ISP's.

The system will then display all of the user's ISP's. The user will then select the ISP to their liking. The system will then dial into the ISP and download all of the new e-mail. It will then display the e-mail information. From Subject Received

 

Joe@hot.com   Hello Joe!      January 31, 2000

Fred@hot.com   Hello Fred!    January 31, 2000

 

The first message will be highlighted. To scroll down to the other messages the user can just say "Scroll Down". To read the highlighted message the user can just day "Read" The message will then be read out to the user. The user must log out and disconnect

when he is finished. This is accomplished by saying "Log out". After the user is logged out, the ISP screen comes up. If the user wants to try a different ISP he can. Or the user can say "Log out" again and he will be logged off the system. And the main menu will

come up.

 

4.2 Client PC

This module will be the main body of the system. This will consist of an IBM ThinkPad 770 laptop equipped with a US Robotics 56K PCMCIA modem. This laptop will be running the LINUX operating system. The system code will be written in C. The voice recognition software that we will be using is the EmacSpeak  package for Linux. 

The client PC will connect to the server via a cellular telephone connection.  The cellular phone is a Motorola DPC 650 which is connected to the modem through a cellular phone-to-modem adapter.

 

4.3 RC Systems RC8650 DoubleTalk Chipset

This module will receive the e-mails in ASCII format from the client PC and convert them into speech and then send it to the vehicle audio system. The detailed design, specifications, and functionality can be found in Appendix C.

 

5.0 SYSTEM INPUTS

The primary goal of the system is to be able to connect to an ISP, download a user's e-mail to the vehicle, and read the email to the user while driving.  The main inputs of our system are:

 

• User input from the control interface, such as, User Id and Password.

• Voice waveforms from user. This will be our way of conducting the user identification and voice recognition of the system

• Selection of an ISP from a user specified list.  The user will be prompted to select an ISP.

• Communication inputs from the ISP.  These will include normal computer to computer communication inputs as per normal dial-up connectivity.

• Download of email files to our system.

 

5.1 MAIN SYSTEM OUTPUTS

The system we are proposing will have one main output.  This will be the converted ASCII text-to-speech output of the system to the vehicles stereo system.

 

6.0 FUNCTIONALITY

 

The User Interface

This will show the user a welcoming message, and list the various ISP's that the user has e-mail accounts on.   The user will have 5 options for ISP selection.  He/she can select an ISP by either typing in between 1-5 corresponding to the LCD

output listing of the ISP selections, or he/she can speak a number into the microphone to make a selection.