How to Build a Voice Assistant Using Python

Voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant have revolutionized how we interact with technology. You don’t need to be a large tech company to build your own basic voice assistant. In this blog post, I’ll show you how to create a simple voice assistant using Python. Our voice assistant will listen to voice commands and respond to simple queries.

Prerequisites

To follow along, you should have:

• A basic understanding of Python.
• A working microphone for input.
• Python 3 installed on your computer.
• Python libraries: SpeechRecognition, pyttsx3, and pyaudio (we’ll install these).

Step 1: Install Required Libraries

Before diving into the code, we need to install the necessary libraries. Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

pip install SpeechRecognition pyttsx3 pyaudio

What do these libraries do?

• SpeechRecognition: Allows Python to recognize and process speech.
• pyttsx3: Text-to-speech conversion library that allows the assistant to speak back to you.
• pyaudio: Helps interact with your microphone for capturing voice input.

Step 2: Listening to the User’s Voice

Let’s start by setting up the code to listen to user input using the microphone.

import speech_recognition as sr
def take_command():
r = sr.Recognizer()
with sr.Microphone() as source:
print("Listening...")
r.pause_threshold = 1  # Adjusts the wait time for input
audio = r.listen(source)
try:
print("Recognizing...")
query = r.recognize_google(audio, language='en-in')
print(f"User said: {query}\n")
except Exception as e:
print("Sorry, I didn't get that. Please repeat...")
return "None"
return query.lower()

Step 3: Giving Voice to Your Assistant

Next, we need to make the assistant respond to the user’s voice input. For that, we’ll use pyttsx3 to convert text into speech.

import pyttsx3
def speak(text):
engine = pyttsx3.init()
engine.say(text)
engine.runAndWait()
# Testing the speak function
speak("Hello! How can I help you today?")

Step 4: Adding Basic Functionality

Now, let’s integrate voice input with basic commands such as asking for the time, checking the weather, or opening an application.

We’ll start by adding some basic functionalities, like greeting the user, telling the current time, and opening web browsers.

import datetime
import webbrowser
def tell_time():
current_time = datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%H:%M:%S')
speak(f"The time is {current_time}")
def open_browser():
speak("Opening your browser")
webbrowser.open("http://google.com")
def greet_user():
hour = int(datetime.datetime.now().hour)
if 0 <= hour < 12:
speak("Good Morning!")
elif 12 <= hour < 18:
speak("Good Afternoon!")
else:
speak("Good Evening!")
speak("How can I assist you today?")

Step 5: Bringing It All Together

Let’s combine everything into a single function where the voice assistant listens to a command and responds accordingly. We’ll implement a few sample commands like asking for the time, opening Google, or simply greeting the user.

def voice_assistant():
greet_user()
while True:
query = take_command()
if 'time' in query:
tell_time()
elif 'open google' in query:
open_browser()
elif 'exit' in query:
speak("Goodbye! Have a nice day!")
break
else:
speak("I am sorry, I can only assist with basic tasks at the moment.")

Step 6: Run the Voice Assistant

You can now run your voice assistant. Here’s the final version of the Python code:

import speech_recognition as sr
import pyttsx3
import datetime
import webbrowser
# Function to convert text to speech
def speak(text):
engine = pyttsx3.init()
engine.say(text)
engine.runAndWait()
# Function to take command from user
def take_command():
r = sr.Recognizer()
with sr.Microphone() as source:
print("Listening...")
r.pause_threshold = 1
audio = r.listen(source)
try:
print("Recognizing...")
query = r.recognize_google(audio, language='en-in')
print(f"User said: {query}\n")
except Exception as e:
print("Sorry, I didn't get that. Please repeat...")
return "None"
return query.lower()
# Function to greet the user
def greet_user():
hour = int(datetime.datetime.now().hour)
if 0 <= hour < 12:
speak("Good Morning!")
elif 12 <= hour < 18:
speak("Good Afternoon!")
else:
speak("Good Evening!")
speak("How can I assist you today?")
# Function to tell the current time
def tell_time():
current_time = datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%H:%M:%S')
speak(f"The time is {current_time}")
# Function to open a browser
def open_browser():
speak("Opening your browser")
webbrowser.open("http://google.com")
# Main voice assistant function
def voice_assistant():
greet_user()
while True:
query = take_command()
if 'time' in query:
tell_time()
elif 'open google' in query:
open_browser()
elif 'exit' in query:
speak("Goodbye! Have a nice day!")
break
else:
speak("I am sorry, I can only assist with basic tasks at the moment.")
# Run the voice assistant
voice_assistant()

Step 7: Testing Your Voice Assistant

After you’ve written the code, test it to ensure everything is working correctly. The assistant should now respond to basic commands like telling the time, opening Google, or greeting you.

Conclusion

You’ve just built a simple Python-based voice assistant! While this version is relatively basic, you can expand its functionality by adding more complex features like fetching weather data, sending emails, or integrating with APIs for smart home control. Python libraries make it easy to develop your assistant into a powerful tool that fits your needs.

Let me know what features you’d like to see in future tutorials or if you have any questions about the code!

This blog post provides an accessible and straightforward guide for building a voice assistant using Python. You can enhance it by adding visuals, screenshots, and external resources like GitHub repositories for the readers to follow along!Step 7: Testing Your Voice Assistant

After you’ve written the code, test it to ensure everything is working correctly. The assistant should now respond to basic commands like telling the time, opening Google, or greeting you.

Conclusion

You’ve just built a simple Python-based voice assistant! While this version is relatively basic, you can expand its functionality by adding more complex features like fetching weather data, sending emails, or integrating with APIs for smart home control. Python libraries make it easy to develop your assistant into a powerful tool that fits your needs.