tilt to switch Layouts

Along with using a button preset to switch layouts, you can also use the tilt sensor in the remote to switch layouts as well. Here's a brief rundown on how to set up Tilt to Switch:

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1. Have Multiple Layouts Set Up: if you only have one layout, you won't be able to switch to anything. So, be sure to click the "+" button and create a new layout.

2. Set the "Switch with Tilt" layout: At the bottom of the Keyboard screen (under all the drop down menus for each individual buttons settings) is the "Switch with Tilt" drop down. From here, you can choose which layout will be loaded when the remote is tilted when THIS layout is active. The Switch with Tilt option is different for each option, and you can think of it as "When this layout is active and I tilt the remote, what layout should load?". Be sure to set this value for each layout you have set up in your remote.

3. Set the "Primary Direction": The remote tilt, to prevent it from switching layouts accidentally, is designed for the remote to be held in either "End Grip" or "Side Grip" while held with your hand and arm at your side. This keeps the remote positioned vertically, with either the port and power switch end pointed up to the sky, or the the end opposite. In this toggle, you're telling the remote which end will be pointed down so, when the remote is tilted 180º the other direction, it knows to switch to the layout specified in the "Switch with Tilt" option you set above. So, if you plan to use the current layout with the number pad, set it to "Number Pad Down" and, if you plan to use the layout with the directional pad, set it to "D-Pad/Charge Port Down".

4. Turn on the Tilt to Switch toggle: Under the Boot Keys in the far right side of the screen is a "Tilt to Switch" toggle button. Be sure this is on, or Tilt to Switch will not work.

5. Optional - add a "Toggle Tilt to Switch" button to your layout: If you plan to move your hands a lot and don't want the layout switching accidentally, you can disable the "Tilt to Switch" toggle and set one of the buttons in your layout to "Toggle Tilt to Switch". Then, once on, when you want to do your switch, just press the button and it will enable the sensor, allowing you to switch whenever you'd like (and press the same button again to disable).

Book test mode and setup

Versa Remote now works with the Book Test Library! If you have not heard of the Book Test Library, it is a collection of pre-indexed books that you can load into your Versa Remote and perform Book Test Revelations with! Also, you can load several books and choose the book you want to use in performance! And, you can use purchased books with many other magic apps as well! This section is going to be divided into two parts, the setup and performance:

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Setup:

The Versa remote comes with David Penn's Pi Revelations. If you don't already have it, it is available from your favorite magic dealer. To use Pi Revelations, simply hold down the #9 button on the remote on boot, and when you type in a 4 digit number, the location of that number is then typed into your (or your spectators) phone.

The Versa remote also comes with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. To download this book, click the link here and then follow the instructions below under "Install a New Book".

However, to fully experience the power of the Book Test mode and perform with other books, you needs to purchase them from the Book Test Library. If you have a subscription to the library, you will still need to purchase the books you want to use with the remote itself. Right Now, you can find them here! When you purchase them, we will ask you for your Versa serial number, which you can find at the bottom of the wifi config screen (It commonly looks like "Versa15#1234567"). Please include the ENTIRE NAME in your order notes when ordering, to ensure your files are delivered correctly. We will email you the zip files you need, so once you get them please keep them safe somewhere!

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install a new book:

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In the wifi config menu, click on Book Tests, then click "Upload". From there, unzip the files we send you (this is a "nameofbook.bin" file) and select that .bin file to upload. Upload and wait, this process will usually take a few minutes. When it is complete, you will see the name of your book in the drop down menu next to "Books".

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For each book, you need to set up a couple of different options:
 

1. Location Input Method: This is the method of determining which word will be input into the connected device. Most of them are pretty straightforward, but as an example, if you choose "Longest Word on Line", the remote will expect a 5 digit input: 3 digits for the page number and 2 digits for the line number. For some options (labeled as "on page") these would only require the 3 digit page number. For entry modes requiring page number, the page number is always a 3 digit value (page 5 would be entered as 005). For line and word number, or number of letters, those values are always 2 digit values (line 3 is entered as 03, word 6 is entered as 06, etc). This mode is per book and cannot be changed in performance.
   
   If you plan to perform this with a line number option, count the number of lines on a typical page (that has a full page worth of lines on it) and write it, in pencil, on the inside of the back cover of the book. If you plan to do exact word, do this with a typical number of words on a line (find a line that is a full line length and write that number). This is so you can quickly peek it during performance.
    

2. Book Boot Key: These are the books you can assign to the 4-6 keys so, when pressed and held while powering the remote on, it will load the chosen book. You can then switch books while the remote is on by long-pressing any of the 4-5-6 keys, and you will feel a vibration to indicate you are on another book.
    

3. Directional Pad Layout - While in Book Test mode, you can also select a set of buttons for the directional pad, either to use in conjunction with Book Test mode or independent of it (for another effect). You can set a new layout specifically for your book test, or choose a layout you already have saved, and Versa will only use the D-Pad buttons (BA-BE) actions, reserving the B1-9 and B0 for the book test itself. Making any changes to your saved layouts here will change the same layouts used in standard Bluetooth mode.
   
   Before continuing with the Performance instructions below, also make sure to set the phrase "You will think of the word " (with a space at the end) to one of the A-E buttons with the "Set Key" option, or set it as the Pre-Text (in the Settings tab). If you are performing Pi Revelation, put "The location of your number is at " instead, since it will type the location.
    

Once done, be sure to save your settings!

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Performance:

1. Start by booting the remote to the book you are using to perform by pressing and holding the key you previously set for whichever specific book you want to use. Open the target phone (yours or a spectators if you have "Fake Name" on) to a new note, email, or something similar that takes a text input.
    

2. If it is your phone, you can skip this step. If it is a BORROWED phone, make sure to pair the remote to their device now. You can use the guise of typing your prediction as an excuse to take the time/tap the screen as needed to "make your prediction". Force quit or close the Bluetooth menu open and switch back to whichever app was opened in step 1.
    

3. If you have pre or post text set up, skip this step. If not, if you have the "prediction sentence" saved as one of your D-Pad buttons (you should from the setup!), press it to type it in. This also confirms the device is paired and working with your remote.
    

4. Next, either hand a copy of the book you would like to use to your spectator (the one you have loaded into the remote), or ask your spectator to pick a book. If they pick the loaded book, great, you don't need to do anything else! If they don't, press and hold the corresponding button to switch to that book (B4, B5, or B6).
    

5. Ask your spectator to name any page from 1 to whatever the last page of the book is. When they name the page, as they flip to it, put the number into the remote's number pad (make sure to include any leading zeros, so page 14 would be entered as 014 and page 9 would be entered as 009).
    

6. If your Location Input mode is a "page only" option, you can skip down to Ask them to look at the word specified in the setup above (from wifi config). What to do next depends on the Location Input Method set up in Wifi Config. If you have the method set to one with the word "page" in it ("first word on page" , "last word on page", etc), then the word will be typed into your target device immediately and you don't have to do anything more.
   
   If you have the method set to one with the word "line" in it ("first word on line" , "last word on line", etc), then peek your line number and say "The average page has X number of lines on it, so give me a number from 1 to X". Again, if they say a single digit number, put a 0 before it (so line 9 would be entered as 09). If you enter a number higher than the number of lines on the page, ask your spectator to look at the last line of the page.
    

7. Finally, if you have the method set to "exact word", you need to enter the line number AND the word number (number of words in), both as a two digit value. So, the entire input for exact word is 3 digits for page number, two digits for line number, and two digits for word position.
   
   This is also the case for number of letter options. Just remember that this value must be a 2 digit number, so if the number of letters is 1-9, lead with a 0 (4 is "04").
    

8. The remote will buzz, letting you know the word has been typed into your phone. On iOS, you should also flip the remote off (or, if you have a button set, put the remote to sleep), showing the software keyboard, and show your revelation.

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For Pi Revelations, make sure to input just the 4 digit number you want to reveal, and its location will be typed into the phone straightaway.

Some Important Things to Mention:

When you are asking the spectator to count the number of words in on a line, if the first word is a partial/hyphenated word, COUNT THIS WORD AS PART OF THE COUNT! Most people will count the half word and, if they don't, you will only be off by one (put a "off by one" card in your pocket just in case). If the first word of a sentence is a partial word, the FULL word will be input as the prediction word (so if they choose word or the first word is hyphenated, they can still select it, just looking at the previous line to see what the word is).

If you want to switch to another book after the remote is powered on, just long press the boot button for that book, and Versa will switch to it (and give you a long vibration to confirm).

Also, if you make a mistake while entering the digits and you want to start over, press and hold the "0" button. Once you feel the vibration, you can start entering the location numbers again.

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VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure your phone is set to not sleep or auto lock AND the cursor is flashing in the spot you want it to type when performing this. If your phone sleeps or auto locks, or if you don't have a flashing cursor, it will not be able to type the word into the field in your chosen app. You can also set the "Keep Device Awake" setting to on, that will also keep your phone awake while performing.

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You can get Pi Revelations at any reputable magic shop. The copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone you need is this one, available on Amazon.com or most any bookstore. The rest of the details on the compatible books are available on the Book Test Library page.

Although we do not formally offer support with any other apps, both iOS and Android have methods to convert keyboard presses into swipes. So, any magic app that takes a swipe input to secretly control, you can use with our Versa Remote.

The way you can do this is with a feature in iOS know as "Switch Control". Switch Control is normally used by the handicapped to control their phone using an external device. However here, we will set it up to work with our remote.

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1. Once your remote is connected, go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control and tap on the button labeled "Switches"

2. Tap on "Add New Switch..." > External > and then press one of the buttons on the remote. A window will pop up asking you to name the switch, so name it appropriately (if it is the up button, name it "Up"). Press Save. Then, under the list of "Actions", tap on the action marked "Tap".

3. Repeat step 2 for each button on the remote. When you are done, there should be 6 switches total. 

4. Back out of the Switches menu by tapping "Switch Control" in the top left corner (you should now be in the main "Switch Control" menu) and tap "Recipies".

5. Under "Recipies" at the bottom, tap "Create New Recipe"

6. Tap on the Name box and turn your remote OFF (so the keyboard will come up), then name your recipe. This can be something generic like "Swipe Controls" or for a specific app like "TimeLine". Turn your remote back on and the keyboard will hide itself.

7. Tap "Assign a Switch", and you will see all of the switches you just created. Tap the name of one of your switches you created in step 2 (for this example press the "Up" switch), then tap "Custom Gesture".

8. The "New Gesture" window is where you will draw on the screen the gesture that will be duplicated when this switch button is pushed. So, for the Up switch, draw a quick up swipe motion on the screen. Whatever speed you draw it will be the speed it is performed on screen when the button is pressed. If you mess it up, you can press "Record" in the bottom right corner to redo the swipe. You can press "Play" to preview the stroke, and "Save" to save it. You can also tap parts of the screen as well as swipe if your app takes tap inputs.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until each key has its own custom gesture. For buttons that should just send a single tap, you can choose "Tap Middle of Screen" from the menu if you don't want to make a custom gesture.

10. Once saved, tap on "Recipes" in the upper left corner (in blue), and tap "Launch Recipe", then tap the name of the recipe you just created.

11. Once done, go back top the main menu for Switch Control, and ensure the scanning style is set to "Manual" and Auto-Hide is set to 1s. Tap "Accessibility" in the top left corner of the screen when done.

12. Scroll to the bottom of Accessibility and tap on "Accessibility Shortcut". Tap "Switch Control" so it has a blue checkmark next to it.

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Switch Control is now set up! Now, to enable it before you use whatever app you want to use with your remote, press the home button 3 times quickly (on full screen phones like iPhone X, the button on the right side of the phone is the home button) to bring up the Accessibility Menu, then tap "Switch Control". When you do this, your device will say your recipe is active, and if you press the buttons on your remote, you will see a gizmo carrying out those gestures. This will apply to any app that is running on your phone. Once you are done performing, triple click the home button again and tap "Switch Control" to disable.

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NOTES:

• When you enable switch control, the recipe will automatically be enabled. However, IF THE PHONE GOES TO SLEEP THE RECIPE WILL BE DISABLED! You can re-enable it by toggling switch control off and on from the Accessibility Shortcut triple click menu.

• If you have Switch Control enabled and make changes to the recipes, switch control will not update the changes until it is turned off and back on.

• Any gesture set up in the custom gestures will be replicated with one push of a button. So, if your app needs a long press gesture, set up the long press in custom gestures, assign it to a switch/button, and it will run when you press that button once.

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Obviously, before you perform, make sure to set up Switch Control and test with your app to ensure it functions correctly with our remote, and if you have any questions of how to make the Versa remote work with your app, contact the app developer or drop us a line at support@thoughtcastmagic.com so we can chat and possibly add support for our remote to their app.

Also, you can still use our remote on your Android device to control it for other apps. This is outside our area of expertise, but we believe you can use a keyboard remapping app like Octopus for Android to set up keyboard to swipe conversion. There's a video below on the method we found to make it work with Octopus, but if you know a better way please let us know.