Speech markers are triggers that can be included within the Digital Person's text response in order to make some action happen. Speech markers always begin with an `@` symbol and often require one or more parameters to be passed to them.

Speech markers are not spoken by the Digital Person, but they do cause the related action to occur at the point in the speech where the speech marker appears in the text.

The use of the following speech markers in a particular response will disable equivalent autonomous behavior for that response.

Gazing at content

@attendObject

@attendObject([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The Digital Person should look towards the on-screen object with the given id. Requires Real-Time Gesturing and a UI that supports Content Awareness.

Gesturing at content

@gestureObject

@gestureObject([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The Digital Person should gesture towards the on-screen object with the given id. Requires Real-Time Gesturing and a UI

that supports Content Awareness.

The Digital Person will only perform the gesture if the screen aspect ratio is wide enough for the gesture to look natural

and if the content does not overlap the Digital Person.

@GestureObjectBothSides

@gestureObjectBothSides([object_id_1: str],[object_id_2: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The Digital Person should gesture with both hands simultaneously towards two on-screen objects with the given id. Requires Real-Time Gesturing and a UI that supports Content Awareness

The Digital Person will always perform the gesture. A user has to make sure that objects are placed at both sides of Digital Person (left and right-hand side).

Pointing at content

Pointing speech markers are used to draw attention to on-screen content

or gesturing, or a mix of both.

The existing

cue hand gestures are the automatic default. If

you use the pointing command then the

Digital Person will point instead of performing a

cue gesture.

Pointing is enabled on both arms

of the Digital Person and will point with the arm on the side of the displayed content, and not reach across

their own body.

Autonomous Ponting can be enabled by toggling on the “Real Time Gesturing” toggle in the Digital DNA Studio. Pointing has the highest priority in the animation system, and it will override Real-Time Gesturing

. Pointing at on-screen content can also be customized through the corpus. You have a choice of handshape of the Digital Person for pointing at content:

• Finger point @PointObject(x)

• Palm half up @PointObjectPalmUp(x)

Follow the tips below to maximize your experience with the pointing feature:

• To use pointing effectively: put the showcards command into the corpus first, and then the point command should be added at least three words later.

Example: We can help you find the perfect present, whether @showcards(x) it’s a fun @PointObject(x) game for children or the latest novel to take on a beach holiday with friends.

• To use multiple pointing commands close together: individual pointing commands should be separated by a minimum of three or more words. In the below example the two pointing commands are separated by 6 words.

Example: We can help you find the perfect present, whether @showcards(x) it’s a fun @PointObject(x) game for children  @showcards(x)  or the latest  @PointObject(x)  novel to take on a beach holiday with friends.

• To use both pointing and gesturing at content in the same sentence; gesture commands must be manually inserted. This is because the use of a pointing command in a sentence disables the otherwise automatic insertion of a gesture for additional content.

Example: We can help you find the perfect present, whether @showcards(x) it’s a fun @PointObject(x) game for children  @showcards(x)  or the latest  @GestureObject(x)

  novel to take on a beach holiday with friends. 

@PointObject

@PointObject([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The Digital Person should point with

the finger at the on-screen object with the given id. Requires Real-Time Gesturing and a UI

that supports Content Awareness.

The Digital Person will perform

pointing with either right or left hand depending on the content placement with respect to the Digital Person. 

@PointObjectPalmUp

@PointObjectPalmUp([object_id: str], [start_time(optional): float], [duration(optional): float])

The Digital Person should point with palm

halfway up at the on-screen object with the given id. Requires Real-Time Gesturing and a UI

that supports Content Awareness.

The Digital Person will perform

pointing in the same way as for command @PointObject() but with a different pointing style. Here, the palm would be turned

halfway up and fully open.

See parameter description

for @PointObject() command.

Pointing Demo

In the below example, both the @PointObject and @PointObjectPalmUp functions are used in the corpus.

pointing-short.mp4

Here is a multi-card response @showcards(choiceA,choiceB) I can point at the first card @PointObject(choice). Also, I can gesture at the second card  @GestureObject(choiceB).

Sample paylod:

{
  "soulmachines": {
    "choiceB": {
      "component": "image",
      "position": "left",
      "data": {
        "url": "https://placekitten.com/300/300",
        "alt": "A cute kitten"
      }
    },
    "choiceA": {
      "position": "right",
      "component": "image",
      "data": {
        "url": "https://placekitten.com/300/300",
        "alt": "A cute kitten"
      }
    }
  }
}