Voice control

What is voice control?

With voice control, you can ask Milo to change settings, get you information, and carry out Milo actions without clicking any buttons. You just say what you want.

How do I use voice control?

• Voice Control is disabled when you first install a new Milo software version. To use it, first enable Voice Control in the Milo Link app for each Milo. Once enabled, Milo is ready for your voice commands at all times except when you have muted the mic.
  1. Note: When you first enable Voice Control in Milo Link, Milo will automatically reboot to activate the feature.
• To give a voice command:
  1. With Milo’s mic unmuted, first say the wake word “OK Milo.”
     Remember that Milo is pronounced as “My-low”, not “Me-low” – that’s [mai] rather than [mi:]
     Others in your group will hear you say “OK Milo“, but they won’t hear the following request.
  2. A short tone lets you know Milo is listening for your spoken request. The LED ring also circles to indicate that Milo is listening for your command.
  3. Say the command. When finished, stop talking. This signals to Milo that you’re done.
  4. Milo stops listening, interprets what it heard, and attempts to fulfill your request.

Initially, voice commands are supported only for US English.

What can I do with Voice Control?

Each feature can be triggered by one of several phrases. Think of them as synonyms, different ways to ask for something. Effective Voice Control is as natural as possible so that you don’t have to remember special magic keywords. Therefore, we aim to include the most common ways people request the features. Below we list a few examples for each. We will continue to expand the synonyms in each new version to cover the most common ones. 

Here’s a summary of the features so far:

• Available in v. 10:
  • 1-on-1 Side Chats – Talk privately with another person in your group
  • Roll Call –  Hear who is in the group and in reach
• Added in v. 11:
  • Long range voice messages – Send a short message to one person or everyone in the group
  • Volume control – Quickly change volume (3 steps at once instead of clicking 3 times)
  • Battery query – Hear the current battery charge level
  • Mic mute – Mute the mic (click Milo button to unmute)
  • Proximity Mute settings – Enable or disable Proximity Mute
  • Roll call – Hear who is in the group and in reach
  • Getting help – Hear a mini tutorial on how to send a message, start a chat, change name, using voice control, or launch the Milo tutorial

Voice enabled features

Long Range Voice Messages

Send a brief voice message to someone in the group or to everyone. Even if someone is temporarily out of range for normal real time conversations, Milo will continue to try delivering your message. Shorter messages will be delivered faster. 

NOTE: If you want to sent voice messages, you need to enable voice on every Milo in your group, even if some Milos only receive messages.

Sending a voice message

• “OK Milo” ...
  • “Send a message to NAME”
  • “Send a message to everyone”

Milo confirms it understood you want to send a message.

Say your message, 10 seconds or less. Milo plays it back so you can hear it before it sends.

Milo starts sending automatically and tells you when the message has been delivered.

Receiving and listening to a message again

When you receive a message, Milo notifies you with a tone, tells you who it’s from, and plays it automatically. If you need to hear it again:

• “OK Milo” ...
  • “Repeat (that)”
  • “Play that message again
  • “Repeat the message from NAME”

Side Chats

Side Chats allow you and one other in-range member in your group to have a private 1:1 conversation. Side Chats are designed to make adventuring with larger groups and families even better:

• Get real-time, focused 1:1 coaching between instructor and student without distracting everyone else in the group
• Take a few highly-focused black diamond runs with a friend, while the rest of the group jokes around on the easy blues
• Figure out the plan for a lunch break without the kids chiming in

Starting a Side Chat

While in the main group, let the other person know you want to chat. Then try one of several ways to start a chat, for example:

• “OK Milo” …
  • “Speak to NAME” (where NAME is someone in your group)
  • “Talk to NAME”
  • “Start a chat with NAME”
  • “I want to talk to NAME”

Ending a Side Chat

When you’re done syncing up, either of you can end the chat to return you both to the main group:

• “OK Milo” …
  
  • “End chat”
  • “Leave the side chat”
  • “Return to the group”

Volume Control

Quickly change volume by 3 steps up or down:

• “OK Milo” ...
  
  • “Volume up/down”
  • “Turn up/down the volume”
  • “Turn the volume up/down”

Battery Query

Instead of removing Milo from its clip to click the power button, just ask Milo about the battery charge:

• “OK Milo” …
  
  • “What’s my battery level”
  • “How much charge do I have”
  • “Do I need to charge the battery?”

Mic Mute

Easily mute your mic:

• “OK Milo” …
  
  • “Mute”
  • “Mute the mic”

Note: Since the mic is muted, you can’t unmute with a voice command – just click the Milo button like you normally do.

Proximity Mute Settings

Turn Proximity Mute on or off without using Milo Link or the on-device menu:

• “OK Milo” …
  
  • “Enable Proximity Mute” / “Turn on Proximity Mute”
  • “Disable Proximity Mute” / “Turn off Proximity Mute”

Roll Call

When you’re wondering who’s in and out of range, just ask Milo for an update. It’s the hands-free version of clicking the side button.

• “OK Milo”  …
  
  • “Who’s in my group?”
  • “Who’s not in range?”
  • “Is anyone online?”
  • “Roll call”

Help on specific topics

Milo can help you with quick how-to information on several topics. Just start with “How do I ...” For example:

• “OK Milo” …
  
  • “How do I send a message”   →   Milo explains Voice Messages
  • “How do I start a chat”           →   Milo explains side chats
  • “How do I change name”       →   Milo explains how to record a name
  • “How do I use voice control”  →   Milo explains general voice how-to

Tutorial 

You can get a refresher on how to use Milo by stepping through the tutorial again:

• “OK Milo” …
  
  • “Play the demo again”
  • “Repeat the tutorial”

Helpful Hints and Tips

Unlike the voice assistants in your quiet living room, MiloAI’s speech recognition system is designed to work in the great outdoors. That said, here are some tips for best performance!

• The closer Milo is to your head, the better Milo’s microphones can hear you.
• When you record a new name on your Milo, do so in a quiet location and make sure your name isn’t cut off at the start or end. If names is recorded well, your chances for successful recognition when saying those names, will be significantly better.
• Milo may not always hear you or recognize your command correctly. If you hear a “bonk”, try again!
• Be aware that loud noises and others speaking nearby can make recognition difficult.
• When you plan to use Long Range Messaging, make sure every Milo in the group has Voice Control enabled. The feature needs that even on Milos that will only receive messages.
• Speak naturally. Voice control is most powerful when you don’t have to memorize specific phrases to do something. Each voice-enabled feature can be launched with one of several commands covering how most people naturally phrase the request. More commands and ways of asking are added with each release. If you have trouble with some commands, please let us know and we’ll try to address it.

We add more commands with each new software release.