Porcupine Wake Word
Python Quick Start

Platforms

• Linux (x86_64)
• macOS (x86_64, arm64)
• Windows (x86_64)
• BeagleBone
• NVIDIA Jetson Nano
• Raspberry Pi (Zero, 2, 3, 4)

Requirements

• Picovoice Account & AccessKey
• Python 3
• PIP

Picovoice Account & AccessKey

Signup or Login to Picovoice Console to get your AccessKey. Make sure to keep your AccessKey secret.

Quick Start

Setup

1. Install Python 3 .

2. Install the pvporcupine Python package using PIP:

pip3 install pvporcupine

Usage

Create an instance of Porcupine that detects the included built-in wake words porcupine and bumblebee:

import pvporcupine

porcupine = pvporcupine.create(
  access_key='${ACCESS_KEY}',
  keywords=['picovoice', 'bumblebee']
)

Pass in frames of audio to the .process function:

def get_next_audio_frame():
  pass

while True:
  audio_frame = get_next_audio_frame()
  keyword_index = porcupine.process(audio_frame)
  if keyword_index == 0:
      # detected `porcupine`
  elif keyword_index == 1:
      # detected `bumblebee`

Release resources explicitly when done with Porcupine:

porcupine.delete()

Custom Keywords

Create custom keywords using the Picovoice Console . Download the custom wake word file (.ppn) and create an instance of Porcupine using the keyword_paths input argument:

porcupine = pvporcupine.create(
  access_key='${ACCESS_KEY}',
  keyword_paths=['${KEYWORD_FILE_PATH}']
)

Non-English Languages

Use the corresponding model file (.pv) to detect non-English wake words. The model files for all supported languages are available on the Porcupine GitHub repository .

Pass in the model file using the model_path input argument to change the detection language:

porcupine = pvporcupine.create(
  access_key='${ACCESS_KEY}',
  keyword_paths=['${KEYWORD_FILE_PATH}'],
  model_path='${MODEL_FILE_PATH}'
)

Demo

For the Porcupine Python SDK, we offer demo applications that demonstrate how to use the wake word engine on real-time audio streams (i.e. microphone input) and audio files.

Setup

Install the pvporcupinedemo Python package using PIP:

pip3 install pvporcupinedemo

This package installs command-line utilities for the Porcupine Python demos.

Usage

Use the --help flag to see the usage options for the demo:

porcupine_demo_mic --help

Ensure you have a working microphone connected to your system and run the following command to detect the built-in keyword porcupine:

porcupine_demo_mic --access_key ${ACCESS_KEY} --keywords porcupine

For more information on our Porcupine demos for Python, head over to our GitHub repository .

Resources