Video Game for Learning English

[A.Russell]

Thank you Tdol.

I have had one other report of the same thing, and I am almost certain that I know what is causing the crash.

Have you ever used speech recognition on your system before?

If not, then I suspect that I haven't included all of the dependencies in my installer. I think that you can speech enable your computer from the control panel or even from Microsoft Word. Here is a very simple tutorial for installing from Word:

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/word2002/sr_install.aspx

Could you please try it then run Magic Book again? If it works then I know I haven't included all the neccessary files in my installation package (Iwanted to keep it small).

 

[A.Russell]

I have just made an installation program that should Speech Enable your PC (if you didn't use the Microsoft Word method already). Once installed, instructions can be found in a ReadMe that can be found in the Program menu.

Here it is: http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com/downloads/SpeechEnablePC.msi

It is quite large. You can see why I was avoiding packaging all this with my application, can't you?

If you can7t handle the large download, there are instructions on how to do it from your Windows CDs here: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/word2002/speech_overview.aspx

Once your PC has been speech enabled, you will be able to use it with other applications that also use Microsoft Speech (like Word and Notepad).

@Tdol; If you could confirm that speech enabling makes MB run without crashing would be great.

 

[Tdol]

Working now- the recognition stuff on my machine was the manufacturer's. Will play and report back tomorrow. ;-)

 

[A.Russell]

Didn't my speech engine installer work? Did you reset your machine after running it?

 

[Tdol]

It worked- I got through fine. Will test on a non-native speaker at the weekend. I'm not a gamer so this is probably my ineptness, but it took me a while to work out that I had to read the instructions- I was waiting for what I had to read, then eventually I twigged. It recognised my pronunciation fine. ;-)

 

[A.Russell]

Glad to hear it. I'll have to add something to the installer to promt people to speach enable their systems if SAPI isn't installed, or at least have it so that it issues an error rather than a crash. I am keen to move on to the next stage, and don't want to develop this further, especially since the response hasn't been exactly overwhelming.

It really is pretty simple, and I am not getting much feedback about it. At least I am now aware of the issues involved in trying to distribute a program using Microsoft Speech.

For the next demo I will make it a bit more exciting and have a character that you can control to explore a map.

 

[Tdol]

Originally, I did have speech enabled, but it was not the MS stuff, but something Toshiba had put on, which the program didn't like. When I added the download, it worked fine.

 

[A.Russell]

MB uses the Microsoft ASR engine. There are other engines available, too, but for most of them I need a special (and usually expensive) license to include them in my software. Microsoft's is a free download. I have tested a couple of other commercial engines that I'd like to integrate, too -particulary Fonix, for those of you who are interested in this sort of thing.

 

[Tdol]

Are they better than the free ones?

 

[A.Russell]

Are they better than the free ones?

They are usually more sophisticated. The commercial engines often start out by modifying an open source project. There are companies that specialise in various areas of ASR. The reason I said I like Fonix is because it is multi-platform and is particularly good in noisy environments (like classrooms).

Carnegie Mellon are developing a speech recognition chip. It will be a bit like graphics cards are used to accellerate graphics that would otherwise be extremely taxing on the CPU, except for processing speech.

I have just uploaded another installation package of MB. This one should also have translations in Japanese, Chinese (simplified) and German. I only have Japanese computers set to Engish, so I haven't tested if it will actually display in those language. Someone please let me know. It should also check your system and ask you to download my SAPI installation pack if it isn't already installed. If anyone still experiences a crash, again, let me know.

http://www.my-virtual-classroom.com/downloads/MagicBookDemo.exe

The instructions once installed are still only in English.

 

[Tdol]

I've asked someone to test the Japanese.

 

[Tdol]

It worked fine on a Japanese OS (XP)

 

[A.Russell]

That's good to hear.

I've finished marking and submitted all of my university student's exams so I'll have time to hammer out a more interesting demo with a moving character this week.

 

[Tdol]

I am looking forward to it. ;-)

 

[Roy Cheung]

I voted it for 3. I also played some games in Pure English Language. But maybe it needs more time to know limited words in the english version games. If you don't use them frequently, you also will forget them. Normally, the words is not used in the daily life.
This is my point.

 

[A.Russell]

I think you've misunderstood the thread, Roy. It isn't about using english video games to learn English, though people and even schools do. It is about creating games that are especially for learning English.

 

[Mido]

What about RPG games they have lot of hard english words.

 

[A.Russell]

Yes, that is the route I am pursuing. RPGs are ideal for practicing comunication, though even now, most of them just have NPCs waiting around mindlessly to offer the player a limited choice of conversational input-response.

Basically, what is needed is something like a conversation simulator within the game world to provide learners with a practice environment for real world English conversations.

 

[A.Russell]

I haven't posted for quite a while so time for an update.

We have a team, a fairly beefy design document, a pile of artwork, a prototype in progress, and even some publisher interest.

I would like to post some images of the project, but the forum won't allow it. Instead, here is a fictional visualisation by writer Frank Blisset:

A bright, white orb hovered just in front of Nyara and CUI as they made
their way through the cave. Before long, the cave broadened into a large
chamber. In the middle of the room was a rock, standing almost a
meter from the floor like a stubby pillar. Beyond this, a giant circle
was carved into the far wall.


Nyara and CUI entered the chamber and were startled by a gentle voice
echoing off the walls.


“Welcome Nyara.”


“Who are you?” asked Nyara


“Cui knows who I am.”


“Cui?”


The weasel scratched his chin and smiled, “You are the Red Sorceress, princess
of stones.”


“Yes, I am! Your quest is long. Be careful! There is danger in the forest. The evil wizard wants to take over the world! I will give you a magic item to help you, but you have to pass a test.”


Crystals began to grow around the little pillar. The crystals shimmered a bit, then each glowed with a separate color.


“Come to the pillar!”


“CUI, will you help me?”


“Yes, kitten. I will help you.”


Nyara tiptoed to the pillar and looked down at the crystals. Each not
only had its own color, but also had a different shape.


“Ready,”she whispered.


Touch the red square,” the spirit voice said.


Nyara thought for a moment and touched the one she thought was correct.
Immediately, a portion of the edge of the circle along the far wall
glowed red. A bright light started its way around the circle, and the
crystals on the pillar slid into the stone. They reappeared, but with
different colors and shapes.


“Touch the blue circle.”


Nyara complied. A blue light appeared on the far wall, right next to the
red one, while the bright light continued around the circle. The
crystals reset themselves.


“Touch the white square.”


The process repeated.


“Touch the yellow triangle.”


Nyara paused. Her hand hovered over one crystal, then another. Along the
wall, the bright light finished its first circuit and the red light
disappeared.


“No fair!”


“Touch the yellow triangle.”


In a panic, Nyara touched the wrong crystal and the bright light jumped
halfway around the circle.


CUI flew to her side, “don't worry, try it again.”


Nyara took a deep breath and reached out to one of the crystals. A
yellow light added itself to the circle.


“You did it!” Nyara completed the circle of lights. When the last was added, the lights started spinning around the circle till they became a shimmering blur. A long crease appeared up the middle of the circle, and the two halves slid into the rock wall, revealing another chamber.


“Come Nyara. I have a magic item for you.”
Fiction by Frank Blisset​

 

[Red5]

I would like to post some images of the project, but the forum won't allow it.

Hi. Feel free to PM or email me via my profile and I'll try to help resolve this. ;-)