It's 2pm, HackManchester has just started.. I will be attempting to create..

A Voice Controlled Browser

Why? you ask.. A variety of reasons..

A Productivity Tool / Cool app

It's been on my (long) list of rainy day projects for a while.
I registered www.VoiceControlledBrowser.com a while back and want to do something with it. I'm suprised I couldn't find many similar products.

At some point I remember wanting to continue to browse whilst my hands were full. I think I was eating pizza, donughts or doing midnight feeds with the baby. An app to make my life easier basically.

With the rise of Alexa and Amazon Echo, voice control is getting a lot of focus these days.

Paralympic Games

But then this years Paralympic games happened and it totally inspired me and made me think of more uses for a voice controlled browser.

In particular I learned about three athletes whom despite having no arms have excelled in their sport having amazing attitudes and determination.

In archery..

In swimming..

And table tennis..

Disability Charities

I then looked around and found charities (such as reach) dedicated to children and adults with upper arm deficiencies and wondered if a voice controlled browser could help them.

Temporary / Permanent Paralysis

But it's not only the disabled that I thought could use the browser.

I believe that those involved in accidents whom find themselves suddenly permanently or temporarily paralysed like the young man mentioned in this article on the Ladbible could benefit from a voice controlled browser.

To suddenly become paralysed must feel like being trapped in your own body, very lonely and very restricting. I thought that if they could control a browser with their voice they could at least explore the web easier.

Can it be done?

I've already played around with the voice recognition stuff in a simple app I have written previously that recognised animal names and displayed them on a screen. But this voice control is on another level of complexity and difficulty, creating sufficient browser functionality for it to be useful will be the challenge.

What tech am I thinking of using?

.NET baby! I hope to create a Windows Universal App and show it running on Raspberry Pi, Laptop, Windows Phone and tablet.

Summary

I really hope that I can create (or at least start to create) something that other people can benefit from.

I hope to get this in the Windows App Store as soon as possible

Keep your eye open for related posts.