Scott Forman , Nov 21, 2008; 01:42 p.m.
I wrote a voice control software for the Canon EOS Utility. It allows nearly complete control of the software by
voice. Everything from focus and shooting to aperture, shutter, ev, and white balance. It even lets you open Live
View and Zoom and access the up/down/left/right buttons on the zoom screen all by voice.
Here's a small demo video I made.
I see the software having lots of possible uses, two being:
1. For people who test light and techniques on themselves because it will allow them to use Live View and
Auto-focus (remote shutter releases don't activate the Live View's auto-focus)
2. For studio photographers so they can take shots and adjust camera settings while helping the subject to pose
or even while holding up light modifiers!
I didn't plan on releasing this to the public but if enough people were interested I'd take the time to refine
the software and put it out there. I'm a professional software developer so I'd want to make sure to make this a
quality app as well as to do some beta testing.
I've posted this a few places on the net to see if it would be worth my time to refine. So, if you're interested
let me know!
Hector Javkin 
, Nov 21, 2008; 02:07 p.m.
That's excellent! Even when voice feedback is on, you might consider eliminating it for the "shoot" command, since you will usually hear the shutter anyway. Or you could make it possible to eliminate voice feedback, on the shoot command only, as an option. In the demo, the shutter click doesn't let you hear the voice clearly anyway.
If you do make this public, you might consider allowing the user to select which commands can be voice actuated and which can't.
Scott Forman , Nov 21, 2008; 02:11 p.m.
Hector,
Those are very good suggestions! I hadn't thought about eliminating the 'Shoot' feedback but that certainly makes sense. It'd be hard to imagine a photographer who would need that feedback in addition to the flashes going off!
I suppose feedback that could be eliminated are Live View, Zoom, and the functions on those screens since normally you'd be watching the screen when you use those commands. But, it makes sense to leave it a user configurable option.
Thanks
Charles Webster 
, Nov 21, 2008; 02:23 p.m.
What OS? Windows, Mac, both?
This would be nice in conjunction with a Bluetooth wireless headset.
<Chas>
Mike Nikolic , Nov 21, 2008; 02:29 p.m.
Wow, that's really cool, nice work! Very clever!
Scott Forman , Nov 21, 2008; 02:31 p.m.
This is for Windows only. If it became popular I would consider getting with a Mac programmer to build a Mac version but unfortunately I don't write software for Macs.
I'm using a microphone that came with my Hardon Kardon receiver meant for EQ setting and it's actually working quite well from a distance. I can operate it a good 10 feet away.
Daniel Flather 
, Nov 21, 2008; 04:25 p.m.
So, the other day my camera's battery died, and I told my camera to go f**k itself. How's that?
Scott Forman , Nov 21, 2008; 04:29 p.m.
Even if you made a "f**k you" macro the camera would have to have a good battery to respond. How's that? LOL
Daniel Flather , Nov 21, 2008; 05:01 p.m.
Daniel Flather , Nov 21, 2008; 05:07 p.m.
That is a neat idea. Nice video.
