Face detection and tts

I would love to use this cool features. Is it possible to use an ip cam or webcam for face detection and amazon echo for tts? For example, i would like to have a cam in the floor and if someone enters the face detection starts, after detection maybe output text trough tts on amazon echo in floor. So could i also give Alexa things to do when entering maybe.

Or could i place a raspberry pi with a cam to send images to the face detection module and output voice from tts on raspberry pi?

Alexa is a definitive no. At the moment alexa is only able to “answer” to you so unless you trigger it it can not speak. Face recognition should work with any camera input registered in HA.

The tts via raspberry pi is possible but I currently don’t know which way would be the best here. But I will check with the tts components source to see what’s possible there.

~Cheers

this or any media_player (Google Home, or Chrmocast video/audio, or others), not Alexa, yet

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I did a quick check. And you can only send TTS voice data to a media player to play. So if you wanted to let the raspberry pi speak you would need to do the TTS part on the raspberry pi AFAIK.

Edit: pushed send to soon.

~Cheers

my issue now is how to make this face recognition work … no clue how to

You can use vlc as a media player on the pi.

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Google Home would be great but not available in Germany :frowning:, Chromecast need another device or tv. OK i will need to try VLC i think.

That’s true! Did not think about that! Do you happen to know a way to integrate a android device as a speaker as well? :slight_smile:

~Cheers

or chromecast audio connected to any speaker

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That sound like a plan, i forgot there is a version just for audio :slight_smile:, thx.

I am using Lannouncer on android

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I read about that and I am currently using NotifyMyAndroid to get Text across which works…but the Android TTS engine is just aweful. Lannouncer does use it as well doesn’t it?

~Cheers

The Android TTS engine I am using is those from Google and I think it is really good.

You can install any TTS engines from the play store. It just a matter of which TTS engine you use.

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Errmm…why are you compiling vlc from source? I don’t think this is necessary if you want to play audio ^^

~Cheers

@anon35356645

yeah. it is just as simple as sudo apt-get install vlc-nox

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beacuse I am a newb and I have no idea about linux and the like

once installed how to proceed? Do I have to start it every time I reboot my pi3?
Which is the media_player name?

Just so we are clear you need to run the VLC instance on the same machine as you run HA for this to work…

~Cheers

yes is on the same machine. The entity_id will be
media_player.raspberry? or what?

If you set it up like described here: https://home-assistant.io/components/media_player.vlc/

You can use the dev tools in the HA gui to check what the correct entity_id is of your vlc media_player.

~Cheers