Starting the Comeyomi blog

This is the first post, so it covers what the bot was built to solve rather than how to use it. The steps themselves are in the usage guide.

A host does not have time to read comments

While talking in an X Space, a host's hands are full. Talking, glancing down at the phone, following replies one by one, taking them in, returning to the conversation. Something has to give, and usually it is reading the comments.

Then a pattern sets in. Listeners learn that posting gets no response, and post less. The host looks at a quiet broadcast and concludes the room is flat today — when in fact the reactions were there, and there was simply no room to read them.

Effort does not close that gap. Reading with your eyes and talking compete for the same person at the same moment. The only way to close it is to turn comments into something that arrives through the ears, because you can listen while talking.

Which is why it joins as a speaker

Comeyomi is not a bot that pushes notifications at a Space from outside. It joins as a speaker and actually says the replies aloud in a VOICEVOX voice. For a host it is close to having one more person in the speaker seats whose job is reading comments out.

Because it is sound, it reaches every listener at the same moment. When the host says "about that question earlier", nobody is left wondering which question. The comments become part of the conversation.

Not reading matters just as much

What became clear from using it is that reading everything is not the right answer. Synthesised speech cutting into an important explanation is nothing but an obstacle.

So there are several ways to adjust how much gets read and when. "SE" signals reactions with sound alone without speaking the text, "Off" stops it entirely, and the conversation wait holds the reading while somebody is talking. Being able to choose per segment matters as much as the quality of the reading itself.

What this blog will carry

• Release notes for new features and fixes
• Tips for using it in different situations
• Notes from behind the development

Updates are also announced on X (@comeyomi). To try it, start with the usage guide; when something is not working, the FAQ is the place.