®™
VERSA
INSTRUCTIONS
Thanks for purchasing the Versa Remote! We hope you love using it. Please read through all of the instructions carefully and, if you have any questions, feel free to email support for the fastest answer.
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Whats New:
The Versa 2b is now available! Not only does it have all the same great features of our previous remote, but it also has:
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15 Buttons in 2 layouts, allowing you to easily use the remote with any magic app or supported compatible device.
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All Metal Buttons - The buttons have been redesigned from scratch, are made of 100% metal, and provide a satisfying “click” every time they are pressed.
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A built in book test mode, allowing you to key in the page, line, and word number of a book and Versa will type that word into the connected device's screen. This currently works with Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and David Penn's Pi Revelations books, but will soon be expanded to include other books.
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(in beta) ability to connect to other smart watches directly, including but not limited to Kronaby and Fossil watches.
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Buttons can now be set to type entire words and sentences, allowing you to make revelations that are more robust.
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Buttons can also be set to additional keys, allowing you to perform magical gestures on your (or a spectators) phone, as well as provide additional options for show control.
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You can set pre and post text, which will be added before (or after) the word when
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Versa now includes a set of tools used specifically for connecting your remote to, and controlling, a spectators phone. This includes:
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Fake Name - You can change the name of the remote, to disguise it. This allows you to pair it to a spectators device and, when done, you can simply power the remote off and your spectator will find "Keyboard" or "CarPlay" or whatever you name the remote in their Bluetooth device list. Also, it allows you to disconnect from the spectators phone and pair to a new phone without the remote connecting to the previous spectators phone.
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Keep Device Awake - This will send a signal every 5 seconds to the connected device to prevent it from going to sleep. This is also available in the standard name mode, should you want to use this with your device.
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You can increase the power level of the remote, increasing its range (but decreasing its battery life).
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Due to an iOS bug, normally you would have issues if your keyboard was set to another language (iOS assumes the software keyboard matches the hardware keyboard in layout). Now, you can set the keyboard layout of the remote in settings to match the language of your keyboard.
Quick Start:
Remove the FCC Sticker: When you first receive your Versa Remote, if it has a sticker on the bottom indicating FCC Compliance, you may remove and discard the sticker, as it will not be needed for use.
Charge the Remote: You can charge it using any standard micro USB cord by plugging it into your computer or a 5w power charger/standard phone charger. Some cords have a bit more “grip” than others so, when you remove the cord, be sure to pull it straight back and not wiggle it from side to side. If you wiggle it side to side, it could damage the connector.
While the remote is powering, the red LED light will turn on and, once charging is complete, the a green light will illuminate (both lights will be on). Please make sure the remote is powered OFF while charging (with the on/off switch set toward the usb port).
Turn the Remote On: The power switch is located directly next to the usb charging port. The back cover slightly covers up the power switch (to prevent turning it on or off accidentally in your pocket), so feel free to pull on it slightly to access the switch. Turn the switch on by sliding it away from the USB Port, using your finger or, if difficult, any non-conductive item (a toothpick or pen cap will do here, just something that is not metal). Do this carefully as not to damage any of the internal components of the remote.
When turned on successfully, you will see a light, feel a vibration, then see a second light. The first light indicates the power level of the remote (green for full, red for dead, and shades of yellow/orange/etc for all other power levels), then the led will indicate the mode. For standard Bluetooth mode, it will show as a solid BLUE light. A single vibration indicates the remote powered on successfully.
Connect to Your Phone: To connect the remote to your phone, open the Bluetooth menu of your phone and scan for new devices (most phones scan automatically when this menu is opened. If yours does not, toggle the Bluetooth connection on and off). In the Bluetooth menu, look for the a device with the name "Versa", followed by several additional characters. Tap the name to connect to it like any other Bluetooth device. Once paired, the remote will vibrate and the blue light will turn off.
Test the Remote: To test, open a blank email, blank note, or any other part of your phone that takes a text input. then, press the topmost (or for 15 button models, top-leftmost) button of the remote (the button furthest away and to the left from the power switch)...if you see the letter "a" typed into the display, and feel a slight vibration, congratulations, the remote is connected and functioning properly! You can press the other buttons on the remote, and each one should type a different keystroke (a through j).
Check (and, if needed, Update) the Firmware: Once done, it is very important to make sure the firmware of the remote (the software that runs on the remote) is up to date. To do this, you need to boot the remote into wifi mode to both check the firmware version and update it if it is out of date. Click here to access the instructions on how to get to the wifi menu and update the firmware.
other remote details
The remote itself, when connected to a phone, will send a small vibration every time a button is pressed, to confirm
a) the remote is on and working and
b) that the button was pressed.
In addition, if you press and hold any of the buttons down, it will send a different keystroke, followed by a longer vibration (to indicate a long press has occurred). By default, the regular presses are lowercase letters and the long presses are numbers. These buttons are fully customizable in the wifi remote config, which is described in detail below.
The remote itself also has a low battery notification. If you are using the remote and the vibration motor is buzzing one long, constant vib, this means the battery is at 5% (and you should charge it as soon as possible). If the remote has no LED when turning on, this means the battery is dead and you should charge it. The battery is not user replaceable.
remote concealment
The Versa remote is designed to be concealed in the palm of your hand, more specifically where your middle finger goes. You can hold it in place one of two ways depending on the size of your hand.
The first grip is the end grip. Place the remote along your middle finger, and curl your middle finger toward your palm so the ends of the remote are pinched at the 1st and 3rd joint of your finger. This is similar to the hand position used for finger palming a coin.
The second grip is the side grip. Place the remote along your middle finger, and allow your middle finger to move backwards slightly, so the sides of the remotes make contact with the side of your index and ring finger. Then, pinch the ring finger and index finger together slightly, holding the remote in place. This is a good grip to use if the length of the remote is longer than your middle finger, or if the remote does not feel securely held into place.
If either of these grips are difficult or uncomfortable, you can adhere 1 or 2 small loops of black elastic to the bottom of the remote (with hot glue, preferably), and slide your finger through the elastic. This way, the remote stays in place no matter how you hold your hand. Also, a bit of double stick tape or gel grip tape can be used if you want to secure the remote to your finger, yet still be able to remove it easily.
Another grip you can use, if either of the grips are comfortable, is to lay the remote across your curled fingers, like you would hold a traditional television remote, and press the buttons from there. This way, the remote is more secure and sturdy in your hand, but is more prone to being visible due to the alignment of it (and the curved fingers). Either way, use the grip most comfortable for you.
Watch configuration
The Versa Remote has the ability to connect directly to a variety of magic smart watches. Our choice, and the watch that we support officially, is the SB Watch/TimeSmith Watch, available here. We also support other watches, but their support is in beta, so be sure to check the Versa page here to see which watches we have tested and know work with the Versa Remote. Our support is specifically to watches we own and can test with a remote, so if there is a watch you would like to use with our remote, send it to us so we can test/add support, and we can return it to you (or, if enough people ask, we will purchase some and test on our own).
connecting your watch
The way smart watches are designed, they can only be connected to one device at a time. So, the first step is to unpair the remote from your phone and put it into pairing mode. This usually involves going to the host app first and "disconnecting", then going to your bluetooth settings and unpairing the device.
Once unpaired, the way you connect the Versa remote to your watch is to set the watch into "Watch Pairing" mode. Power your remote off, and press and hold either:
On 10 button model = Button 6 or Button 7, and power the remote on. Button 6 puts your remote into "number entry" mode, and Button 7 puts your remote into "swipe entry" mode.
On 15 button model = Button B or Button D, and power the remote on. Button B puts your remote into "number entry" mode, and Button D puts your remote into "swipe entry" mode.
When you turn on the remote, you know you are in the watch mode because you will feel one long vibration, and the light will either be red (for number entry mode) or red and blue (for swipe entry mode).
For either mode, make sure the remote is oriented with the entry buttons toward the top of your hand. So, in swipe mode, the E button is up and the A button is down.
When the remote goes into pairing mode for the first time, the blue led will slowly pulse. This means the remote is looking for a watch to pair to. So, take your smart watch and put it into pairing mode according to the instructions. You will feel some vibrations when the remote tries to connect, and once connected it will stop vibrating and the led will turn off. Now, this remote will remember the watch that is connected and, when it is powered on, it will enter watch mode automatically and pair to this particular watch when it is available.
If you own multiple watches and need to connect to the "right one", there are two ways to do so:
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Take the watch you want to pair, with your Versa remote, at least 100ft/30m away, so it will not connect to any of your other watches, or
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Start the remote in Numeric mode (long press B button) and let the watch pair to a watch. Once paired, When the watch connects, try to set a time to check which watch is paired. If this is the right watch, you can stop and the remote will only pair to this watch until reset in config mode. If it is not the right watch, press "99" on the keypad of the remote, and it will temporarily blacklist the watch and pair to another watch in the vicinity. Repeat this process until the watch you want to use is paired.
Once the watch you are looking to pair is paired, Versa will remember the watch and pair only to it when you boot to Watch mode, until this is reset from the wifi config.
setting the time
On the 10 Button Model:
Once connected, if you are in numerical mode the numbers on the remote start with 1 at the top (the button furthest away from the power switch) and increase as you go down and to the right (see the diagram below). The very last button (the one closest to the power switch) is 0. So, to test, press the topmost button 4 times, and the watch will set itself to 11:11. After the 4th press, it will vibrate to confirm the time was sent and continue vibrating until the time is set, then stop once the time is set. If you put in a number higher than 1200, it will automatically convert that to 24 hour time and send that time (so 1500 would set 3pm). If you enter a number higher than 2400, or an invalid number/unsettable time, it will send 4 short vibrations to alert you the time was invalid. A easy way to remember which buttons go to which numbers is to remember the middle buttons of the d-pad are 1, 3, and 5, and the left side of the remote are the other odd numbers (7 and 9). So, if you are looking for 2 and can't find it, look for 3 and go one button to the left.
On the 15 Button Model:
Use the number pad with the digits 1-9, then the 0 button is the middle most button.
In swipe mode, this sets the time of the watch using the clock swipe method that requires 6 swipes to set. This technique is not ours to teach here, so if you already own a product that explains this you can use the same functionality as you would swipe your phone screen to set the time, but using the d-pad buttons to do so instead.
If you mess up or think you messed up the number input and want to start over, in number entry mode, press and hold any button except #0 (the button closest to the power switch on the 10 button model, the middlemost button on the 15 button model). In swipe mode, press and hold any button except #3 (the middle of the d-pad).
When the remote connects to your watch, it saves the time the watch is currently set to and tracks it with a clock. So, if you ever want to return to the current time, make sure the watch is set to the current time when you connect. Then, press and hold the #3 button (middle of the d-pad) on 10 button Versa remote models and the 0 button (middlemost button) on 15 button Versa remote models to set the watch to the current time (this is not 100% exact due to how the remote works, so it might be off by a minute or two in either direction).
other watch mode information
The reasonable range for watches is about 5ft/1.5m from the remote. If you leave this range, your remote will start to vibrate single pulses repeatedly to let you know. When you come back, the pulse vibrations will stop, alerting you the watch has reconnected.
You can change to swipe or numerical input by powering off your remote and pressing or holding button 6 or 7 (per whichever mode you want to enter. To get back to regular bluetooth keyboard mode, press and hold the #1 button (the topmost button) while powering the remote on.
If you got a new watch, or want to connect the remote to a new watch, you must "forget" the old watch by pressing and holding button #8 while powering the remote on on the 10 button model or button E on the 15 button model. It will forget the name of the previous watch and then pair with the first watch available. If you are not sure which watch your remote is paired to, boot into wifi config mode per the instructions above and go to the config page in your browser. The name of the paired watch will show at the top of the screen.
If you own multiple watches and want to connect to one specific watch, the best way to do so is to purchase a faraday bag or RF blocking/RF signal blocking bag. This is a bag that blocks any electromagnetic signals, and can be used to ensure only one watch is "visible" at a time.
wifi configuration
If you would like to change the button configuration, view the battery power percentage, see what watch is paired to your remote, or if there is a firmware update to install, you can do it all from the wifi configuration menu.
To access the configuration menu on the 10 button model, press and hold the very last button on the remote while powering it on (the button closest to the power switch and usb port). On the 15 button model, press and hold the middlemost button (the button between #8 on the numpad and A on the dpad).
If done correctly, the led will flash blue. Once it flashes blue, open your computer or phone to the wifi settings (where you choose the wifi network to connect to) and tap on "Versa Config". Go to your web browser and type in the address "10.1.1.1".
On iOS, if you are in the wifi menu when the remote powers on and you don't see the VersaConfig network in the list, back out to the full Settings list, then tap on Wifi again. Also, on iOS, if the web page is not loading after you connect in Wifi Settings, just wait until the blue check is visible next to the "Versa Config" network name as shown in the photo below.
On Android, wait for the Wifi network to connect completely before trying to open the Wifi config webpage. You may have to turn off the cellular radio on your phone, but most likely it should work as soon as it is connected.
If done successfully, you will see the wifi configuration menu, including fields to set both the short and long press keystrokes of each button of the remote, and where you can update the firmware. If a firmware update is available, we will email you, and you can download it and find installation instructions below.
If you get a "The Wifi Network 'Versa Config' does not appear to be connected to the internet" error, just tap "Keep Trying Wifi"
If you get a "Cellular Data is Turned Off" error, just ignore it and tap OK.
If you're having problems getting the remote to show up in the wifi list, or trouble connecting, check out the troubleshooting at the bottom of the page.
Vibration Level adjustment
While in WIFI Configuration mode, the d-pad buttons control the strength of the vibration motor. To set the vibration power, enter the WiFi/configuration mode on the remote and press the following buttons:
On 10 Button Model:
1 & 2- mute vibrations
3 - low vibration power
4 & 5 - max vibration power
On the 15 Button Model:
A - Max Vibration Power
B - Reduce Vibration Power 15%
D - Increase Vibration Power 15%
E - Min Vibration Power
You don't need to connect to the remote via wifi to adjust the vibration power, just put it in wifi mode and use the buttons to change the values.
Once you are done, just turn the remote off / on to continue using the remote in the same mode you had active before entering config mode.
SETTINGS
Here is a brief explanation of the settings in the WiFi config and what they all do. We also discuss this and show examples of each setting in the video.
Export/Import Settings -
Lights -
Keep Device Awake -
Watch Input - 24hr -
Fake Name -
Enter Fake Name -
Add Numeric Tag to Name -
Pre Text/Post Text -
Keyboard Layout/Keyboard -
Bluetooth Power Level -
Reset Control System -
IMU/Tilt trigger
In the WiFi Config settings, there are additional buttons at the bottom in green. These indicate the IMU, which detects axis tilt. You can currently set these buttons to perform specific keystrokes or action, but you will soon be able to switch button layouts when they are triggered as well. This is only available on Versa 2b model remotes or newer.
Book test mode
(Explanation of Book Test Mode, and wifi config settings)
(mention how ABCDE buttons work in book test mode)
To perform, open the target phone to a new note, email, or something similar that takes a text input and make a prediction like "You are thinking of the word "...if you have this phrase configured to one of the A-E buttons, or as the Pre-Text, you can skip this part and use with those features. Either way, make sure to leave a space at the end of the sentence. For Pi Revelation, put "The location of your number is at " since it will type the location.
Next, hand a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone to your spectator and ask your spectator to name any page from 1 to 309. 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).
Lastly, 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, tell them the average page has 28 lines, so to pick a number from 1 to 28. 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.
Finally, if you have the method set to "exact word"
The remote will buzz, letting you know the word has been typed into your phone. You can flip the remote off, showing the software keyboard, and show your revelation.
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.
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 get Pi Revelations at any reputable magic shop. The copy of Harry Potter you need is this one, available on Amazon.com or most any bookstore.
This is only available on Versa 2 model remotes or newer.
swiping and switch control on ios
Although we do not formally offer support, nor do we have any formal partnerships with any other app makers, 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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Once your remote is connected, go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control and tap on the button labeled "Switches"
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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".
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Repeat step 2 for each button on the remote. When you are done, there should be 6 switches total.
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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".
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Under "Recipies" at the bottom, tap "Create New Recipe"
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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.
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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".
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Scroll to the bottom of Accessibility and tap on "Accessibility Shortcut". Tap "Switch Control" so it has a blue checkmark next to it.
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.
NOTES:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
Troubleshooting
If you run into any issues with the remote, here are some troubleshooting steps you can take.
If the remote will not show up in the bluetooth device list:
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Press and hold #1 when powering the remote on (to set into bt mode).
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Check the remote is not paired to another device.
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Plug the remote into power (if your battery is too low it might not connect).
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Press and hold the #9 button on the 10 button model (2nd row from the power button, right side) or the C button on the 15 button model (the middlemost button of the d-pad at the bottom of the remote) while powering the remote on, wait 10 seconds, then power the remote off and back on (this is a full reset and will erase your custom buttons).
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Turn your bluetooth radio off and on on your phone.
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Reboot your phone.
If the remote will not show up in your wifi when you put it into wifi config mode (hold #0 and power on):
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Check the blue led on the remote is pulsing (if not power the remote off, hold the #0 button, and power it on again).
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Check another device hasn't connected to the remote's wifi automatically.
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Refresh the wifi network list on your device (either by closing and reopening the window that has the list, or by powering off your wifi radio, waiting 10 seconds, and powering it back on.
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Reboot your phone or computer, or try another device.
If the remote will not connect to your smart watch:
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Make sure it is compatible (email us or check the list on the Versa faq page)
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Make sure your watch is not paired to another device/phone.
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Make sure your watch has a fresh battery (if you haven't changed the battery in over a year, put a fresh battery in your watch or take it to a watch repair person for replacement).
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Reset the watch saved in the remote by powering on the remote while holding down button #8.
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Boot the remote to watch pairing mode (hold down button #6)
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Put the watch into pairing mode.
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Do a full reset of the remote by powering the remote on while holding down button #9. Then, start the remote in watch mode again (press and hold #6 while powering remote on).
If you did all of that and still can't get it working, send us an email so we can help you out further.
Quick reference
Here is the various "Power On" functionality of the remote, for you to quickly set your watch into the right mode or troubleshoot an issue.
Power LED's
Boot LED (first LED you see) indicates current power level. Green is good, Red is bad, and any shade in between is the approximate power level of the battery. If the boot light is flashing red, the power level is critical (5% or less) and needs to be charged immediately.
Charging - solid red light (bright)
Done Charging - solid green (bright)
15 Button Remote
Power On Buttons (button held down when power is turned on):
none - load last mode (default is bluetooth)
1, 2, 3 - Set mode to regular/bluetooth mode in config # set in wifi settings
4, 5, 6 - Set to Book Test Mode (book set in wifi settings)
7 -
9 - Set to Pi Rev Mode (for use with David Penn's Pi Revelations trick
B (dpad left) - Set mode to Watch Mode (numpad input)
D (dpad right) - Set mode to Watch Mode (swipe input)
E (dpad down) - forget paired watch
C (dpad center) - full reset
0 (middlemost button on remote) - wifi config mode
Still need help?
We're here to help you!
Email support@thoughtcastmagic.com with the subject "Versa Remote Help" and we will get back to you as soon as possible!
FCC Compliance Statement
CAUTION: The manufacturer is not responsible for any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance. Such modifications could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
– Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
– Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
– Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
– Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.