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ADR-v2-033 — Wake-Word Activation

Status: Accepted (2026-07-02) · Wave E (experimental) Context links: [[adr-v2-029-semantic-autostop]] (pairs for zero-touch), [[adr-v2-012-accessibility-continuum]], [[adr-011]]

Context

All YazSes activation paths assume a physical hotkey (keyboard/EMG) or gaze. The Wave E research (#8) proposes a low-power always-listening keyword spotter ("Hey Yaz") to start a dictation turn with no key — a new activation modality for severe motor impairment. Paired with Semantic Auto-Stop (ADR-v2-029) it yields fully zero-touch dictation. Anchors: openWakeWord (dscripka), microWakeWord (OHF-Voice, TFLite-micro) — on-device keyword spotters.

Decision

Add an opt-in wake-word activation: [wakeword] enabled=false, keyword, threshold, cooldown_ms. The pure core should_activate(score, since_last_ms, config) fires only when the spotter score clears threshold and a cooldown_ms debounce has elapsed (false-accept guard). The openWakeWord ONNX model is lazy behind a wakeword extra and processes only a short rolling buffer; nothing is transcribed or stored until the wake word fires. EXPERIMENTAL — the only always-listening feature → hardest opt-in (--force), off by default, hard local-only guarantee.

Consequences

  • New zero-touch activation modality; composes with Auto-Stop + Voice Mouse Grid.
  • Pure debounce/threshold decision → fully testable; the spotter model stays deferred.
  • Privacy-critical (ADR-011): keyword spotting is 100% local on a rolling buffer, nothing persisted, explicit loud opt-in required.
  • Caveat: false-accepts would trigger spurious recording → conservative threshold + cooldown, experimental, off by default.