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Overview

Altoura Frontline on the HoloLens is fully voice-enabled. While authoring a procedure, you can operate almost every panel and button without lifting a hand — useful when your hands are busy handling tools, models, or the physical environment. There are two types of voice interactions in Author mode:
  1. Universal voice selection — hover a button with the ray or head-gaze cursor, then say “Select” to click it. This works on every interactive control in Procedures, Remote Expert, and Profile.
  2. Global voice commands — a small set of dedicated phrases that trigger actions without any hover required. These are specific to Procedures.
Voice commands are always available alongside standard input. Any button you can activate with voice can also be activated by air-tap or by getting close and touching the control directly.

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Universal Voice Selection: “Select”

Every interactive control on the HoloLens exposes a “Say ‘select’” hint when it is in focus.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Point the ray or move your head-gaze cursor onto the button, tile, or icon you want to activate.
  2. Wait for the “Say ‘select’” tooltip to appear beneath the control.
  3. Say “Select”.

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What Happens Next

  • The focused control activates just as it would with an air-tap.
  • The tooltip disappears; the associated action runs.

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Examples

The same hover + “Select” pattern works on every kind of control. For example, on the Procedures landing page, focus a procedure card and the tooltip appears beneath it:
The Procedures landing page with a procedure card in focus and the 'Say select' tooltip visible beneath it.
Inside a procedure, the same behaviour applies to individual steps in the Task / Step List panel:
The Task/Step List panel with a step in focus and the 'Say select' tooltip visible beside it.
And on tiles inside the 3D Model panel and its default catalogue:
A tile in the 3D Model panel in focus, showing the 'Say select' tooltip beneath it.
“Select” works on every interactive control across the app — including tiles in the 3D Model panel, the Task/Step List, dialog buttons, the QR scan flow, and controls in Remote Expert and Profile panels — with one exception: the Next and Previous buttons on the main step panel. See below.

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Global Voice Commands (Procedures)

Global voice commands are hands-free phrases that trigger their action without needing to hover the button first. They are specific to Procedures.

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Follow Me / Unfollow Me

You do not need to look at the panel. See Follow Me in Author Mode for the full behaviour, including auto-disable when a panel is manually moved.

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Next / Previous (Step Navigation)

The main step panel in Author mode with the Back and Next arrow buttons on either side of the step title and description
The Next and Previous arrows on the main step panel are the only controls that do not respond to hover + “Select”. You must use the voice commands “Next” and “Previous” (or air-tap the arrows directly) to change steps by voice.

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Choice Option Labels

A choice step showing multiple option labels; each label acts as its own voice command
When you are previewing or authoring a Choice Step, each option is labelled with text. That text itself acts as a voice command. Example: if a choice option is labelled “Start with the alternator”, saying “Start with the alternator” activates that option — no hover, no “Select” required.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Look at (or move within earshot of) the Choice Step panel.
  2. Read the label of the option you want.
  3. Say the label exactly as written.

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What Happens Next

  • The matching choice option is selected.
  • The procedure branches down that path, just as if you had air-tapped the option.
Choice labels are treated as literal voice phrases. Keep them short, distinct, and unambiguous when authoring — this makes hands-free selection much more reliable for operators later.

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Quick Reference

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Tips

  • Author with voice in mind. When writing choice option labels, favour short, clear, spoken-friendly text. Long or punctuation-heavy labels are harder for operators to say.
  • Use “Select” as the fallback. If a global command isn’t recognised in a noisy environment, you can always fall back to hover + “Select” (or an air-tap).
  • Voice + Follow Me works well together. Enable Follow Me on the main step panel by voice, then use “Next” / “Previous” hands-free while working — instructions come to you and advance on command.