Recently, I came across a pretty cool little device called the “Cronus controller adapter“. Basically, it’s a USB dongle that can be plugged into your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, allowing you to use any controller you want no matter what console it was originally designed for as long as it works over USB. For example, using the Cronus adapter, you can use your Xbox 360 controller on your Playstation 3, your Playstation 3 controller on your Xbox 360, or your mouse and keyboard on both. Since I (used to) do a lot of computer vision programming (and have been looking for an excuse to get back into it), I felt like this little device would be a great way for me to create some new computer vision applications. Since I’ve already written several computer vision apps that can detect and track objects, I would like to test my skills at automating some video games by using OpenCV for the processing. Since the Cronus controller adapter allows you to feed commands to your Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 from basically any other device, I think that the Cronus adapter will be a great way for me to send commands to my Xbox 360 based on objects detected and tracked by OpenCV using my computer.
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Ninite - Installer / Updater
Every day I come across all kinds of really cool apps. Unfortunately, I come across way too many to list on here. However, ever so often, I come across an app that is worth mentioning. The app I want to introduce you to now is one of those amazing apps. The application I want to tell you about is called “Ninite” (http://www.ninite.com). Ninite is an application aggregator. Ok? So, what does that mean? Well, have you ever had a harddrive crash or bought a new computer and had to go through the tedious task of locating the websites for all of the programs you had on your computer before the crash or new purchase? Or, what about the times when you can’t remember which applications you had installed before your crash or new computer?
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It seems as though speech recognition is once again becoming a very popular topic. Over the last few weeks, I’ve received hundreds of emails from readers asking about how to do different things using speech recognition and C#. One of the requests I received was from a reader interested in controlling Firefox using speech recognition and C#. Curious as to this myself, I put together a simple application to get him started and now I’m going to share that app with the rest of you. I’m not going to explain in detail how any of this works right now because I’ve already explained the basics in my other speech recognition articles (1, 2, 3). Instead, I’m just going to post the code here for the rest of you to enjoy. The only commands I have implemented so far are the “home” and “back” buttons. But, the example still provides you with enough information to implement more methods. And, as always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below. You can download the complete project at http://www.prodigyproductionsllc.com/downloads/FirefoxAutomation.zip.
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Being the artificial intelligence and automation fan-boy that I am, I was excited to find that you can now get a copy of Martin Ford’s book “The Light in the Tunnel” for free. “The Light in the Tunnel” is a book that discusses the growing capability of artificial intelligence and robotics to replace workers at all levels of the food chain. It even goes into how a sharp rise in automation may mean for the global economy. Martin Ford believes that without drastic adjustments to the way the market is structured, automation could bring the whole system crumbling down. As a self-proclaimed artificial intelligence researcher, I enjoy reading things such as “The Light in the Tunnel” as they shine light on some of the questions and concerns that plague the AI industry.
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I’ve mentioned a few times on this site that my background is in automation and integration. I’ve talked about several applications that I’ve automated for people over the years. But, I never took the time to actually show you how to automate your own programs. So, I’m going to take a few minutes and teach you the basics for automating Microsoft Windows applications using C#. I will show you a very basic application that will launch the calculator that comes pre-installed in Windows and show you how to invoke buttons on the calculator. So, let’s get started.
