It was a Thursday in early January 1996 when an electrician friend of mine called me and asked if I could give him a hand on the upcoming Saturday. He needed help for about 4 hours installing 'home automation modules'. At the time I didn't even know what a 'home automation module' was but it sounded interesting so I agreed. On Saturday I went to the job site and by noon we were controlling lights and appliances with a PC using the X10 CP290 Interface and a variety of different X10 modules. I remember thinking "this is really cool stuff!".

That night, another friend called and asked me if I could install a CD ROM drive in his computer. I went to his house the next morning and installed the new drive and then started looking at the pile of free software that came with it. One diskette especially caught my eye. It was "Dragon Talk-To Plus". I installed the software and was able to launch applications and control the mouse by simply speaking into the microphone. A 1000 watt light bulb immediately went off in my head. "Yesterday I was controlling lights with a PC and today I'm controlling a PC with my voice!" It wasn't much of a stretch for my wild imagination and love of science fiction to see that these two elements fit together like peanut butter and jelly. Who would have guessed that helping two friends who didn't even know each other would change my life forever.

First thing Monday morning I was on the phone ordering a CP290 and a handful of X10 modules from the closest X10 distributor. By the end of that week I had a very crude working program capable of controlling lights by voice. I was hooked and there was no turning back. By early February, 1996 "Voice Trek" was a registered trademark and "Advanced Home Automation" was a registered company with the New Hampshire Secretary of State. The goal was clear… "to develop the ultimate voice activated home environment control system and make it as affordable as possible", the dream was also clear… "to make Voice Trek a household name and to someday have it advertised during a Super Bowl". The goal I'm proud to say was challenging but it has been met. The dream on the other hand has proven to be a bit more difficult.

The next twenty months was spent in development as well as testing every major speech engine and microphone on the market in an 'open air' environment. The number of different sounds that can be created in a home is really quite amazing. Some of the speech engines we tested actually misunderstood pots and pans being put away in the kitchen as voice commands and turned on/off lights. An intense amount of development and testing went into making 'accidental commands' in Voice Trek extremely unlikely. This was accomplished by using different 'Modes' which make controlling appliances a two step process. Voice Trek will not turn on a light/appliance unless it's in 'Home Control' mode. This method not only increased safety but it also increased recognition accuracy by limiting the number of commands the speech engine was listening for at any given time.

In simple terms, Voice Trek is an interface between home automation and speech recognition technologies. It provides a seamless connection between the two. With Voice Trek, users can control lights/appliances, infrared devices, and even HVAC systems using nothing but their voice. Voice Trek is completely interactive and can speak the time, date, a daily schedule, and other information whenever it's asked.

I can not speak of Voice Trek's development without mentioning two people who were very instrumental in making Voice Trek a reality. The help provided by Jim Phillips of X10(USA), Inc. and Michael Proteau of Dragon Systems, Inc. can not be over exaggerated. Their product knowledge, professionalism, and patience was greatly appreciated.

When Voice Trek 1.0 was first released in October, 1997 I believed that majority of our sales would be to techies. It was suggested to me that we pursue the disabled market but I consciously decided that this would not be a good idea until Voice Trek had a proven track record. We were indeed achieving recognition accuracy rates of over 97% in test after test but how would it work in other homes? With other users? In different environments? I decided that until Voice Trek was field tested and proved itself to be as reliable and stable as I believed it was that we would not pursue the disabled market.

By January, 2000 we had been using Voice Trek for over three years in our test home and numerous copies had been sold all over the country with no complaints. So when I received a phone call from a woman looking for information about Voice Trek for her husband who had Multiple Sclerosis I was actually quite excited. She wanted to give her husband some control of his environment when she was not at home. She ended up placing an order for Voice Trek, an X10 CM11A interface, a few X10 modules, and a JDS InfraRed Xpander. They had recently purchased a PC but they had absolutely no home automation equipment at all. For $550 they were able to purchase everything needed to voice activate a few lights, a fan, and a couple infrared devices.

A short time later I received an email stating that they had received their order but they were having some difficulty getting Voice Trek up and running. I was attempting to solve the problems with email support but then I received the following email:

TOM, I AM NOT VERSED VERY WELL IN COMPUTERS, BUT I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN AS BEST I CAN. I HAVE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND I USE DRAGON DICTATE TO COMPLETELY OPERATE MY COMPUTER. I DO NOT HAVE USE OF MY HANDS AND ARMS. EVERYTHING I DO WITH THE COMPUTER IS THANKS TO DRAGON DICTATE SYSTEM. MY WIFE ACTIVATES MY SYSTEM BEFORE SHE LEAVES FOR WORK AND I AM ALONE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE MY NURSES' AID COMES TO THE HOUSE. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO TURN ON LIGHTS AND A FAN WHEN I GET WARM. HOPEFULLY I WILL BE ABLE TO GET THE TV CONTROLS TO WORK SO IT'S EASIER TO CHANGE CHANNELS AND EVEN MUTE OR POWER OFF WHEN I'M ON THE TELEPHONE. … Description of problem … I AM SORRY FOR BEING SUCH A BOTHER. I GOT SO EXCITIED WHEN I SAW YOUR ITEMS, I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF THE PROBLEMS. I JUST WANTED TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL MY ENVIRONMENT. I HAVE SPENT SOME EVENINGS IN THE DARK AND THOUGHT THIS WAS MY ANSWER. THOM

I made arrangements to call Thom's wife that Saturday to help solve the problems. After about an hour on the phone we had resolved the COM port conflicts and I had guided them through Voice Trek setup and everything was working fine. Following is the email I received a few days later:

DEAR MR. DIONNE, I WISH TO GIVE YOU MY HEART FELT THANK YOU FOR YOUR WONDERFUL HELP LAST SATURDAY. EVERYTHING IS WORKING EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED. I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE THE THINGS I AM ABLE TO DO MY SELF. YOUR COMPANY DOES DELIVER AS PROMISED! I CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR ANY NEW IDEAS YOU MIGHT HAVE IN THE FUTURE. DON'T HESITATE TO EMAIL ME IF I CAN ASSIST YOU IN ANY WAY. I OWE YOU A LOT. THANK YOU, THOM VANDERBUR

Over the next few months I received occasional "HOW TO" emails from Mr. Vanderbur and I'd write back with answers to his questions. Then a long time passed and I hadn't heard from him until I received the following:

DEAR MR. DIONNE, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? I COULDN'T FIND YOU FOR A WHILE. I NEVER DID ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT MY SETUP. MAYBE YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN WHO I AM. I AM THE FELLOW WHO HAS MS AND USES TWO DIFFERENT DRAGON DICTATES TO CONTROL BOTH MY COMPUTER AND VOICE TREK SYSTEMS. THANKS TO YOUR PRODUCT AND HELP EVERYTHING IS WORKING WONDERFULLY. YOU HAVE HELPED MAKE MY LIFE EASIER. IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP YOU, JUST ASK AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO ACCOMMODATE YOU. I LOVE YOUR PRODUCTS AND YOUR IDEAS. THANKS AGAIN, THOM VANDERBUR

What Mr. Vanderbur doesn't realize is I would never forget him. Although we have never met in person he has changed my life also. It's been over five years and Voice Trek is not yet a household name and the Super Bowl commercial doesn't look like it's going to happen in the near future. What has happened however is I have realized that rewards sometimes come in unexpected forms. Whether or not my dream is ever realized is no longer important. I get great satisfaction in knowing that something I did has changed someone's life. Voice Trek is capable of bringing control and independence to people who are unable to do the things that most of us take for granted. What more could I really ask?