[N64] Voice Recognition Unit (VRU) support

[upintheairsheep]

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The VRU is an accessory required in "Hey You, Pikachu" and optional in another game, which is a voice recognition device that listens to keywords. It is supported in muphen64plus-next and simple64, but we cannot reference their codebases nor borrow them due to incompatible licencing, however the device has been reverse engineered here: https://pastebin.com/6UiErk5h https://ultra64.ca/files/documentation/online-manuals/man/pro-man/pro26/index26.8.html
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[loganmc10]

I am the original author of the VRU code in mupen64plus (and thus also derivatives like simple64). I don't think licensing is an issue, and I'd be happy to re-license the code for ares (however that works, I have no idea). However, the implementation in mupen64plus is an HLE implementation, which relies on the Vosk speech-to-text library, and doesn't actually emulate the hardware present in the VRU itself.

[upintheairsheep]

I am aware of that fact.

…

On Monday, May 6, 2024, Logan McNaughton ***@***.***> wrote: I am the original author of the VRU code in mupen64plus (and thus also derivatives like simple64). I don't think licensing is an issue, and I'd be happy to re-license the code for ares (however that works, I have no idea). However, the implementation in mupen64plus is an HLE implementation, which relies on the Vosk speech-to-text library, and doesn't actually emulate the hardware present in the VRU itself. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1480 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AKNKRXBEYQUTUJTJVJKLFHTZA6SYZAVCNFSM6AAAAABHGSDFKWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDAOJWGM4TQNZUGI> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[loganmc10]

My apologies...

[LukeUsher]

I am the original author of the VRU code in mupen64plus (and thus also derivatives like simple64). I don't think licensing is an issue, and I'd be happy to re-license the code for ares (however that works, I have no idea). However, the implementation in mupen64plus is an HLE implementation, which relies on the Vosk speech-to-text library, and doesn't actually emulate the hardware present in the VRU itself.

ares does not include code that is not licensed permissively; ares itself is ISC but we could also accept MIT or BSD; GPL/LGPL code is a non-starter so we may need relicensing if we were to use it.

LLE emulation of the VRU would be preferred, but afaik, we are still awaiting ROM dumps from hardware so that is not viable at this time, HLE could be a good stop-gap measure.