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Category: Computers & Technology
Speech recognition software has been touted as the next wave in computing.
Available from a variety of different vendors, the software is often the star of the trade show circuit, where it regularly lives up to its billing. Computer-show demonstrations are usually quite impressive; the software works like a charm and potential buyers are duly dazzled. But as the saying goes, let the buyer beware. As with most new technology endeavors, the buzz does not always live up to the reality.
Did I Say That?
Speech recognition software incorporates "text-to-speech" features. These programs allow you to speak into a headset, dictate a letter or a memo, and watch as your words magically appear on your computer screen. In most cases, the words do magically appear as promised. However, often the words are not the ones you just uttered.
Speech Therapy
Much like a new pet, voice recognition software must be trained. And like a pet, if you are not willing to spend the time "training" the software, you cannot expect it do what you want.
"When you see a person at a computer show demonstrating the software, the accuracy appears very good," said Leslie Breuer, president of Desktop Solutions, a computer consulting firm based in Canadaigua, New York . "This is because the software has been trained extensively to the person's voice and speaking characteristics."
According to Breuer, the training substantially improves the accuracy of dictation, but it takes a lot of time, effort and patience on the part of the user. "The software is designed to be trained for each user and the speech files that it uses build accordingly--which means if you are using it often you better have a heck of a lot of hard drive space to store the files," he said.
Keep Talking
In addition to repeatedly using the software, it is necessary to correct the software when it makes a mistake. (You know the bad puppy routine--show him the paper after he piddles on the kitchen floor and hope that he learns from his mistake.) You can make your corrections either while you are dictating or after you have completed your document. This must be done so that the software does not continually make the same mistake.
Speech recognition software incorporates 'text-to-speech' features. These programs allow you to speak into a headset, dictate a letter or a memo, and watch as your words magically appear on your computer screen.
You will also need to add words to the vocabulary, for instance, your name, the name of your company and any other words that you use often which may not be in the vocabulary. For example, if you spoke the letters "I-B-M" to your software, it would not know that you meant "IBM" all in capitals. It may write "ibem" or some other combination.
It is also important to test the noise level at the site where you are using the software, as this will help ensure its accuracy. Most of the products have Wizards, which will walk you through this process.
Do Your Homework
Before you spend $100 or more for voice recognition software, there are several things to seriously consider. Besides the hardware requirements, you should ask yourself why you are buying it in the first place. If you are buying it because you dislike typing, keep in mind that it will take the software quite some time to get up to speed before it can replace actual word processing.
Also, keep in mind that there are quite a few voice recognition software products on the market in a wide range of prices. In other words, said Breuer, the more bells and whistles the more intensive the hardware requirements and the more expensive the software.
According to Breuer, to run voice recognition software you will need at least a 133 MHz computer with 32 MB RAM. "By running it," he said,"I don't mean running it WELL."
To run it acceptably in terms of decreased errors and speed of screen writes, Breuer recommended that users have at least a 200 MHz computer with a minimum of 64 MB RAM. "If you install the software on a slower machine with less than 64 MB RAM, the system is so slow to display the text on the screen, you will lose your place or have to sit there and wait for the system to catch up with you," he said.
Look Who's Talking
The Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred edition sells for around $170. It is available through Dragon Systems at www.naturalspeech.com.
Dragon is a long-time player in the speech recognition arena. Installation and setup are relatively simple, and training is easily accomplished with an Audio Setup Wizard for setting volume levels and rating sound quality.
According to Breuer, who tested the software, the product is well suited for quick tasks, uncomplicated short email messages or brief letters. "The software can be well worth the money if you are willing to devote the amount of time needed to train it properly and if you are willing to use it on a regular basis," he said.
L&H Voice Express Professional is a voice recognition software product that sells for $150. It is available through the Kurzweil Web site at www.kurzweil.com.
It, too, is easy to install and set up. It comes with an Audio Setup Wizard for setting volumes and rating soundquality. The interface is well designed and it is quite easy to use. It even has formatting and editing features that interpret your spoken words and perform the functions you want.
However, the software needs to be trained just like every other voice recognition program on the market today, and training takes much longer than one hour.
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