Talking to Vector: Voice Commands and Speech Recognition Troubleshooting

Sections:

Tips || Troubleshooting Steps || CCIS || Vector supports English || How to talk to Vector

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@anki.bot 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@anki.bot). This may be due to an issue with a ANKI 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.

How to talk to Vector

Learn below how to give a Voice Command to Vector, how to ask him a question and how to communicate with him in other ways. Vector is currently monolingual and can only understand English.

"Hey Vector" voice commands and AI questions (ChatGPT or Claude) need an active Vector membership. See All About Vector Memberships.

Vector detects

• Vector’s 4 microphone array uses beamforming to detect directional sound and background sound, though he does filter out some background sound
• He may react differently depending on if he is awake or asleep, whether you use a “trigger word” to get his attention, or if he is startled

Talking to Vector

Voice Commands

Get Vector’s attention to give him a Voice Command - telling him to do something:

• Say “Hey Vector!” This is his “Wake Word”
• Wait for his Back lights to turn blue and he will “ding” his earcon. This confirms you have his attention and he is ready to accept a Voice Command
• Give Vector a command e.g. “Come here!”

Give Vector a “Utilities” Voice Command e.g. asking what time it is, setting a timer:

• Utilities use local preferences from your device settings and information you input into the app during setup such as location and time zone
• You still need to get Vector’s attention with the Wake Word “Hey Vector” and wait for the ding and his Back Lights to turn blue

To learn more about what Commands you can give, take a look at “Things to Try” in the Vector companion app

If you encounter any issues using Voice Commands, see this FAQ for tips and troubleshooting

Vector Q&A: Ask Vector a question

Asking Vector a question uses AI (ChatGPT or Claude) and needs an active Vector membership.

1. Get Vector’s attention using one of the following two triggers:
1. “Hey Vector, I have a question”
2. “Hey Vector, look up a question for me”
2. Vector will show he understood by displaying the above icon
3. When he is ready to be asked, he will tell you, “Ready”
4. Ask Vector a question – the more specific you are, the more likely he is to answer your question e.g. “What will the weather be like in London on Saturday in degrees celsius”
5. If the question has multiple answers, he may give the answer that is first alphabetically
6. If Vector didn’t detect or understand your question you will have to start again with “Hey Vector, I have  a question”

Take a look at Vector Q&A in “Things to Try” in the Vector companion app to learn more about it.

If you encounter any issues using Vector Q&A, see this FAQ for tips and troubleshooting.

Turning off voice detection 

• You can mute or unmute Vector’s microphone array so that he can’t hear any voice commands by double-clicking his Back Button - he must be off his Charger. Vector will display a “Mic Mute” icon on his face for a brief moment.
• While Vector’s mic is muted, his Back Lights are red. Vector will stay muted until you unmute him.
• To unmute Vector’s mic, just double tap his Back button again while he’s off his Charger You can tell he’s unmuted, you will see a “Mic Unmute” icon on his face.
• For more information on what Vector’s Back Lights mean, please see this FAQ
• For further information on Vector and privacy, please refer to this FAQ