Talking GPS Speedometer

Product ID: 200171

Product Name: Talking GPS Speedometer Code Package

OVERVIEW: Talking GPS Speedometer

Talking GPS Speedometer
Using your Android GPS device and Text-to-Speech engine, “Talking GPS Speedometer” dynamically announces (speaks) the current “speed”, “direction” and/or “bearing” of any sustained motion event including walking, running, biking, skiing, boating, motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile, automobile, airplane, and more. “Talking GPS Speedometer” includes setup options for enabling and disabling the speed, direction and bearing announcements; selecting the speed, direction and bearing announcement frequency, setting the speed and bearing announce digital precision; selecting the speed conversion units, and a TTS Test Mode for evaluation/testing. The user can send GPS location information to friends via an intent driven email option located on the applications menu, and configure their default “send-to-email-address” in the Settings menu.

“Talking GPS Speedometer” is an example of a multi-threaded Android application demonstrating simultaneous processing of GPS data and Text-to-Speech announcements implemented as a remote service with a user interface activity for setup, monitoring operation and service start/stop control. Speed, Direction and Bearing data is exclusively derived from the GPS device. The application is specifically designed to run on all GPS-enabled Android phone and tablet devices beginning with Android 1.6 (API Level 4).

WARNING: The application is intended to supplement Speed, Direction and Bearing information on a text-to-speech hands-free announcement basis only. Please do not attempt to navigate the menu of this application when actively operating a motorized vehicle or bicycle!

Before starting the “Talking GPS Speedometer” main activity your GPS device must be enabled and a Text-to-speech (TTS) engine installed. The main activity allows the user to “start” and “stop” the Talking GPS Speedometer service directly via Start and Stop buttons included in the user interface. This screen includes a large text view for displaying the current speed and another for displaying the current direction and bearing. The screen also includes details relating to Provider, Last Satellite Fix, Has Accuracy, Satellite Accuracy, Has Altitude, Altitude, Has Bearing, Bearing, Direction, Has Speed, Speed, Latitude and Longitude.

1. Operation: When running the “Talking GPS Speedometer” main activity for the first time the data is not available (dashes appear) because the Talking GPS Speedometer service has not been started.
2. Starting the Service: To start the Talking GPS Speedometer service click on the Start button. A gear box icon appears in the status bar indicating the service is running. The default settings are now applied and any significant motion events will trigger the speed and direction announcements within 10 seconds. Last Satellite Fix, Satellite Accuracy, Altitude, Latitude and Longitude fields will show active data even though you are not in motion. When you are in motion the Bearing, Direction and Speed fields will show active data. No text-to-speech announcements occur when the user disables them in the Settings menu, or when the user is not in significant motion, or when the GPS device is not enabled.  Press the Home or Back button on your device if you wish to place the application in the background. Note: The default Bearing announcement is disabled and can be enabled from the Settings Activity.
3. Stopping the Service: To stop the Talking GPS Speedometer service click on the Stop button. The gear box icon is removed from the status bar indicating the service is no longer running. Press the Home or Back button on your device to exit the Talking GPS Speedometer Activity. Disable your GPS device per your device instructions. You can restart the service by clicking the Start button.
4. Shutting down everything: To shutdown the Talking GPS Speedometer application and service click on the Shutdown button. You will be prompted one last time Yes or No, select Yes to shutdown or No to skip shutting down the application and service. Selecting Yes removes the gear box icon from the status bar indicating the service is no longer running. Selecting Yes will also exit the Talking GPS Speedometer application. You should disable your GPS device to conserve your battery.
5. Settings Menu: Enter the Talking GPS Speedometer Settings activity by pressing the menu button on the device and the Settings icon. On the Settings page you can dynamically change text-to-speech and unit conversion options that affect the announcement characteristics for Speed, Direction and Bearing. This includes if the feature is enabled, announcement frequency, announcement decimal precision and speed conversion unit selection. Note: Since the Direction is derived directly from the Bearing, the Direction and Bearing announcement frequency are both set using the Bearing announce frequency. The Settings page is self explanatory and does not require further review here.
6. Enable TTS Test Mode: From the Settings menu this option when enabled enters TTS Test Mode and announces random number generated variations of Speed, Direction and Bearing based upon your announce frequency and announce precision settings. Disabling test mode will enable run mode and take data directly from the GPS device. The Talking GPS Speedometer service must be started before the TTS Test Mode can announce data. Note: When in Test TTS Mode the “Service status” label will say “…, test mode”; otherwise it should say “…, run mode”.
7. Text-to-Speech (TTS) Latency: When the GPS device is enabled and has a good lock on the available satellites, then the GPS speed, bearing and direction data is updated every 1 second based on the collection process. The data is feed into the Android TTS Engine immediately. However, due to the nature of how the Android TTS Engine processes data you may notice a delay of 1 to 5 seconds in the freshness of the data when announced. The worst case scenario will be when the Speed, Direction and Bearing announcement check-boxes are checked and announce frequencies are small. The best case scenario is when only 1 of the 3 announcement type check-boxes is checked. Experiment with the settings to determine what works best for your application. Try enabling the Speed announcement only and change the Speed announce frequency to 5 or 10 seconds.
8. Automatic Announcement Silence: When the Talking GPS Speedometer service is running and actively announcing your selected GPS Speed, Direction and Bearing information, certain events will force the TTS announcements into temporary suspension. These events include incoming/outgoing telephone calls, on a telephone call, music playback, and other audio activities such as Skype (VOIP) or YouTube. When the audio event is complete the Talking GPS Speedometer service will automatically resume announcing GPS Speed, Direction and Bearing information.