I’m working on a project where I need to simulate microphone input in a headless browser environment. The issue I’m running into is that when the browser runs in headless mode, it seems like audio is disabled by default.
Here’s what I’m trying to achieve:
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Audio Input: I have some audio files (WAV and MP3 format) that I want to feed into the browser as if they were coming from a real microphone. Is there a way to mock or simulate microphone input in headless mode?
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Audio Output: I also need to capture any audio that the browser generates. Ideally, I’d like to either get a live audio stream or record the output and save it to a file on my system.
Has anyone successfully implemented audio handling in headless browser automation? I’m particularly interested in solutions that work with popular automation tools. Any code examples or configuration tips would be really helpful.
i actually ran into this too last month. chromium has --use-fake-device-for-media-stream flag that lets you simulate mic input from files. combine it with --use-file-for-fake-audio-capture=/path/to/your/audio.wav and you can feed your wav/mp3 files directly. for output capture i just pipe browser audio through alsa loopback on my linux box - works pretty well once you get the routing right
I faced a similar issue while developing a voice interaction system. To simulate microphone input effectively in a headless browser, consider using virtual audio devices. On Linux, tools like PulseAudio’s module-loopback can stream audio files, while Windows users might find VB-Audio Virtual Cable effective. Ensure to launch your headless browser with the necessary command-line flags, such as --enable-audio-output and --no-sandbox, to facilitate audio handling. For capturing the output, employing a tool like FFmpeg proved invaluable, allowing me to record audio in real time. Be mindful of syncing between input and output; this was essential for reliable results.