The conversation cycle
Each exchange follows a cycle:
- You speak — your voice is captured by the microphone
- Speech recognition — your words are converted to text
- AI thinking — the tutor processes what you said and formulates a response
- Speech synthesis — the tutor's response is converted to speech
- You hear — the tutor speaks through your device or headphones
This cycle happens in seconds, creating a natural back-and-forth conversation.
Barge-in (interrupting the tutor)
When using headphones, you can interrupt the tutor at any time by speaking. This is called barge-in. The tutor stops, listens to what you say, and responds.
On loudspeaker, barge-in is disabled because the microphone picks up the tutor's own voice. Headphones are strongly recommended for the best conversational experience.
Text transcript
The transcript is hidden by default — Epivo is voice-first. You can turn text on whenever you want it: switch on Show text in Preferences, switch to typing, or mute the tutor. With text on it helps you follow along, especially for:
- New vocabulary words you might not catch by ear
- Complex explanations that benefit from reading and listening
- Language learning, where seeing the written form reinforces the spoken form