Managing Conversation Feedbacks¶

level_3

Providing feedbacks is essential to be sure that Humans really understand what’s going on when talking with Pepper.

A bar, called SpeechBar, is displayed on the tablet. It helps to understand if the robot is listening, hearing something and what has been understood.

Prerequisite: make sure RobotActivity is implemented. For further details, see: 4. Implementing QiSDK Design & the Robot Life Cycle.

Listening states¶

When Pepper is listening, his:

shoulders are blue,
SpeechBar adapts according to the specified strategy and position.

When Pepper is not listening, his:

shoulders are off,
SpeechBar adapts according to the specified strategy and position.

Reactions to voice events¶

Hearing Human Voice

The SpeechBar displays a visual animation.

Not Understood

The SpeechBar displays a question mark: “?”.

Understood

The SpeechBar displays the understood text.

SpeechBar strategies¶

In order to adapt to many interfaces, RobotActivity provides multiple SpeechBar display strategies. The default SpeechBarDisplayStrategy is ALWAYS.

ALWAYS¶

Description: the bar is always shown and does not cover the app content.

Listening	#00d7ff color
Not listening	#706565 color
Height	70dp
Text position	Inside

OVERLAY¶

Description: the bar appears as an overlay each time the robot starts listening. The bar disappears when the robot is not listening for a few seconds.

Listening	#00d7ff color
Not listening	#706565 color, then disappears
Height	70dp
Text position	Inside

IMMERSIVE¶

Description: the bar appears as a small overlay each time the robot starts listening. The bar disappears when the robot is not listening.

Listening	Colors: #00d7ff, #009dba
Not listening	Disappears
Height	Dynamic
Text position	Outside

SpeechBar positions¶

RobotActivity provides multiple SpeechBar display positions:

Position	Description	UI
TOP	The bar is shown at the top of the screen. This is the default position.
BOTTOM	The bar is shown at the bottom of the screen.

Customizing SpeechBar display¶

The allowed strategies are stored in the SpeechBarDisplayStrategy enum:

enum class SpeechBarDisplayStrategy {
    ALWAYS,
    OVERLAY,
    IMMERSIVE
}

The allowed positions are stored in the SpeechBarDisplayPosition enum:

enum class SpeechBarDisplayPosition {
    TOP,
    BOTTOM
}

To select another strategy or position, you may use the setSpeechBarDisplayStrategy or setSpeechBarDisplayPosition methods:

class SpeechBarActivity : RobotActivity(), RobotLifecycleCallbacks {

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

        setSpeechBarDisplayStrategy(SpeechBarDisplayStrategy.OVERLAY)
        setSpeechBarDisplayPosition(SpeechBarDisplayPosition.BOTTOM)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_sample)

        QiSDK.register(this, this)
    }
}

public class SpeechBarActivity extends RobotActivity implements RobotLifecycleCallbacks {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

        setSpeechBarDisplayStrategy(SpeechBarDisplayStrategy.OVERLAY);
        setSpeechBarDisplayPosition(SpeechBarDisplayPosition.BOTTOM);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_sample);

        QiSDK.register(this, this);
    }
}