# -*- mode: org -*-


* [[./05-eyes-free-home.avi][Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell]]

The Marvin shell pulls together available eyes-free applications
to provide an integrated user experience. Note that talking
applications can come from many sources, with project Eyes-Free
being but one such source. For other exciting talking
applications that use our open Text To Speech (TTS)  APIs, see
the Android Marketplace, where you  will find many useful tools
that integrate seamlessly with Marvin.

when you install the Eyes-Free Shell, you can choose to make
Marvin your default _home_ screen --- this means that pressing
the _home_ button always brings up the Marvin shell. To return to
the default Android home screen, hold down the _back_ button for
3 seconds or more.
Here is a brief description of  the Marvin user interface.

** Single Touch Access To Useful Tools

The Marvin shell uses the [[./02-strokes.html][Stroke Dialer]]
to provide single touch access to useful tools right from the
home screen. 
You can explore this interface  by moving 
your finger around the screen --- as you move over the /buttons/,
Marvin speaks the associated action. Lifting up the finger
executes the current action. As an example,
the  top row of the keypad, i.e., _1_, _2_, and _3_
provide status information.
Stroking to _4_ brings up your favorite /short-cuts/, and _6_
speaks your current location using  geo-location information
obtained from Google Maps. 
Pressing _7_ connects to your voice-mailbox, and pressing _9_
puts the phone in /airplane mode/
--- this disables all wireless connections, and helpfully shows a
large airplane on the screen to satisfy your friendly airline
crew when flying.
Finally, the applications that appear on the /shortcuts/ screen
can be customized by editing  XML file 
:/sdcard/eyesfree/shortcuts.xml
on your SD-Card --- as is apparent, this is a /power-user/ feature:-)!



* Talking Mini-Applications  For Single Touch Access

Here, we demonstrate some of the talking mini-applications that
can be accessed from the Marvin screen.
All of these mini-applications speak useful information without
the need for the user to do some form of /context switch/.



** Device State

Available from _1_ on the Marvin screen, this mini-application
announces useful information such as signal strength, and
availability of WiFi networks.

** Date And Time

Available on _2_ on the Marvin screen, this mini-application provides single-touch access to current
date and time.


** Battery State And Power

Pressing _3_ on the Marvin screen speaks the current battery
level and announces if the phone is presently being charged.


** Knowing Your Location 

Available as _6_ from the Marvin home screen,
this mini-application announces your present location based on
information acquired via GPS and the cell network. It speaks your
current heading using the built-in magnetic compass, looks up the
current location on Google Maps, and announces the location in
terms of a nearby address and street intersection.


#+TITLE: Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell
#+AUTHOR: T.V Raman
#+EMAIL: raman@google.com
#+DATE: 2009-03-30 Mon
#+LANGUAGE: en
#+OPTIONS: H:3 num:t toc:nil \n:nil @:t ::t |:t ^:t -:t f:t *:t
#TeX:t LaTeX:nil skip:nil d:nil tags:not-in-toc +LINK_UP:
#http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/documentation/videos/index.html
#+LINK_HOME: http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/