Voice

Speak and be heard

Chalie supports full voice interaction — you can speak your requests and Chalie responds with synthesised speech. This makes it feel much more like talking to a person than typing at a text box, and it works hands-free.

Voice is the primary interface when Chalie is installed as a home device or run on a Raspberry Pi. It’s also available through the web interface for desktop and mobile use.

Speaking to Chalie

Just start talking. Chalie uses a wake word (configurable, default: “Hey Chalie”) to know when you’re addressing it. After the wake word, you can speak your request naturally:

• “Hey Chalie, what’s the weather today?”
• “Hey Chalie, set a timer for 20 minutes.”
• “Hey Chalie, read me my emails.”

After Chalie responds, it waits for another command. Say the wake word again to start the next request.

Hearing Chalie’s responses

Chalie speaks its responses out loud using text-to-speech. The voice and speed can be configured in your Chalie settings.

For short answers (“The weather in London today is 14 degrees and cloudy”), Chalie responds directly. For longer content like email summaries or document contents, it reads a condensed version.

Voice in the web interface

In the browser, you can enable voice mode from the input bar. A microphone button lets you record your message, and Chalie plays its response as audio in addition to displaying it on screen.

Wake word customisation

The default wake word is “Hey Chalie” but you can change it in your configuration. Some households prefer a different word to reduce false triggers. See the configuration documentation for details.

Voice models

Chalie uses a local voice model for speech recognition (keeping your voice data on-device) and a text-to-speech system for responses. If you’re running Chalie on capable hardware, the speech recognition runs entirely offline. Lower-powered hardware may use a smaller model with slightly reduced accuracy.

Accessibility

Voice mode makes Chalie accessible to people who prefer not to type or who have difficulty using a keyboard. Chalie aims to handle natural speech patterns, filler words, and corrections gracefully — you can say “actually, I meant…” and it adjusts.