Brave New Yackety-Yak.ACCESSIBLE COMPUTING WITH VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE I am not a computer jock. I don't even remember how much memory I have on my PC. But when I began reading about voice recognition software, the technology that allows computers to translate audio input into written text, I was intrigued. If it really worked, this very 21st-century technology could open doors for people whose disabilities stop them from using a regular computer keyboard. I decided to try it out myself. Technology breakthroughs The availability of voice recognition computing can be attributed to advances in telecommunications technology meeting advances in home use hardware. These programs require a significant amount of memory (RAM) and speed (MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. ). Fortunately, most home PCs on the market are adequate. Voice recognition has now moved beyond the original "discreet speech" mode, when YOU. HAD. TO. SPEAK. SLOWLY. WORD. BY. WORD. The newer "continuous speech" programs require you to speak naturally, in complete phrases or sentences. The programs listen to your vocabulary, and also to your syntax, cadence, and particular grammatical structures. You don't have to pause between every word anymore, but you do have to enunciate--and that takes a certain amount of concentration. IBM's ViaVoice ads have made continuous speech software familiar to many TV viewers. IBM's main competitors are Dragon Systems Dragon Systems, Inc., was the company that created DragonDictate and Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It was founded in 1982 by Drs. James and Janet Baker and bought by Lernout & Hauspie in 2000. Inc. and Lernout & Hauspie. In general, the IBM products The following is a list of products from the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation and its predecessor corporations, beginning in the 1890s, and spanning punched card machinery, time clocks, and typewriters, via mainframe computers and minicomputers, to microprocessors, PCs, are cheaper and a little easier to use with other applications. Lernout & Hauspie's Kurzweil Voice Xpress Plus program is easy to learn, but its recognition time is slower than the other programs. Dragon's programs tend to be recommend over the others since they are the most accurate and user-friendly, though they eat up more computer memory. Which software? Do a little consumer research, and you'll find a daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin array of products to choose from, with prices ranging from under $100 to nearly $700. Bigger is not always necessary. Before deciding which software program to buy, figure out what you want to do with it. I've been trying out Dragon System's NaturallySpeaking Personal Edition 1.0 program ($99) for the past 3 months. I can now open the Dictate program, blab away, format the text using dictated commands, and cut and paste To move an object from one location to another. When the operation is complete, there is nothing left in the original location. It may refer to relocating files from one folder to another or to relocating selected text or images from one document to another. into another window such as Word or e-mail--without touching my keyboard. Since I don't usually work with many different applications, I am perfectly happy with this program. Joe Karnicky, a full, time computer programmer who works from his home in Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city in San Mateo County, California in the United States of America. It is located at latitude 37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 30,785 inhabitants as of the 2000 U.S. Census. , began using an early version of the Dragon Dictate program 6 years ago. His MS has limited his keyboard use to one finger, but he can use the mouse. Since he frequently switches among 5 and 6 applications as he works, the command-and-control feature suits him just fine. (This command-and-control feature is now available, along with the continuous speech feature, in the Deluxe Edition program for $695.) "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what I would do without the program," said Mr. Karnicky. He hasn't bothered looking into the newer editions of the software. Linda Storey of Englewood, Colorado Englewood is a city in Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA. As of 2005, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,350.[5] It is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. , was a rock and roll musician who knew music, not computers. Progressive MS eventually made it impossible for her to play guitar in a band. She got her PC and an older version of the Dragon software through a local grants program. This technology has made it possible for her to write, produce, and distribute a CD of her own songs. The songs on Linda Storey's CD, "Willow Tree", deal with her feelings about assisted suicide assisted suicide: see euthanasia. , living with MS, and her strong Christian faith. Since she has little arm strength, she composes on a keyboard using a pencil in her mouth to hit the notes. Then she dictates her song lyrics into the computer. She is working on distribution using her voice recognition software to write necessary letters or send faxes. Some Christian Rock Christian rock (occasionally abbreviated CR) is a form of rock music played by bands whose members are Christian and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands. radio stations are now playing her CD, so Mrs. Storey got hooked up to the Internet and had someone design a web page for her business.(*) Lawyer Jeff Crosby started out with the NaturallySpeaking Deluxe program this past year at his Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351,[1] it is the 8th largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, , firm. Mr. Crosby joined the firm in 1981, shortly after being diagnosed with progressive MS. The scope of his job has changed from doing things like special education litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. to doing transactional jobs, such as real estate contracts. He now uses a motorized mo·tor·ize tr.v. mo·tor·ized, mo·tor·iz·ing, mo·tor·iz·es 1. To equip with a motor. 2. To supply with motor-driven vehicles. 3. To provide with automobiles. wheelchair, and finds it difficult to use the computer keyboard. Much of Mr. Crosby's initial frustration with his new software disappeared when he upgraded his computer. And while he still gives dictation tapes to his secretary to transcribe To copy data from one medium to another; for example, from one source document to another, or from a source document to the computer. It often implies a change of format or codes. , the NaturallySpeaking Deluxe program allows him to read and send interoffice in·ter·of·fice adj. Transmitted or taking place between offices, especially those of a single organization: an interoffice memo; interoffice conferences. e-mail, generate his own documents, and access shared office files. The Deluxe program has also allowed him to create macros, those shortcuts See Win Shortcuts. that condense con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. a 5 or 6 step process into one keystroke key·stroke n. A stroke of a key, as on a word processor. key  stroke ... or one voice command, in this case. Getting started's hard to do Once I got the audio configured so that my microphone worked properly, I completed the hour-long initial NaturallySpeaking voice training. I read out loud, while the program matched the way I spoke against the selected text, creating my voice template or profile. Every time I use the program now, I have the option of updating and fine-tuning this profile--which is what builds accuracy rate. I'm so used to typing on a keyboard and navigating with my mouse that I found myself tongue-tied when I finally arrived at the blinking "microphone on" icon. It's strange to speak your thoughts, and then see them appear as screen text. My initial embarrassment disappeared fairly quickly, though, when I saw that the words on the screen often bore no resemblance to what I thought I had just said. "A now trying at the new voice recognition program jungle in the writing article about." Huh? After generating a few sentences, I would read back, only to find that I couldn't remember what I had just tried to say! Scratch flint ... Luckily, the program puts many voice commands at your disposal. For instance, I could say "Select `A now'". These words would be highlighted, and then I could speak the correction, "I am now". There are commands for formatting, moving through the document, and editing. You can also have your computer play back all or parts of the text. The phrase "scratch that" deletes an erroneous word or phrase right after saying it; anyone overhearing my first few forays into NaturallySpeaking might have thought I had a bad case of poison ivy poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, woody vines and trailing or erect shrubs of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac family), native to North America. . After these first sessions, I felt incredibly mealy-mouthed and inarticulate inarticulate /in·ar·tic·u·late/ (in?ahr-tik´u-lat) 1. not having joints; disjointed. 2. uttered so as to be unintelligible; incapable of articulate speech. . It was frustrating to have to pause after each sentence or phrase to make corrections. Sometimes I'd have to open the "correct spelling" window when the machine simply wouldn't--or couldn't--"hear" what I was trying to say. I also found that I frequently needed to take the time to open the "train" window (its icon is a seal balancing a ball on its nose). Here, you say one particular word, and the program adds this piece of information to your speech file. Dr. Mark Griffith, of Zephyr Zephyr or Zephyrus: see Eos. TEC, works with vocational rehabilitation programs in Oregon and Washington to train people in the use of voice recognition software. "Users expect too much, too fast," he cautions. Speech recognition software may be flying off the shelves, but it's also the software product that gets returned the most frequently He advises people that they will need a minimum of 20-40 hours of basic use and training. It took me a whole week of painstaking work before I was able to use the program with some degree of accuracy. Many ways to skin a dragon ... The Dragon NaturallySpeaking software is basically set up to run with Windows. However, Valerie Wilson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania has been successfully operating her software through DOS. Ms. Wilson has progressive MS, and is quadriplegic quadriplegic /quad·ri·ple·gic/ (-ple´jik) 1. of, pertaining to, or characterized by quadriplegia. 2. an individual with quadriplegia. . With 2 daughters headed for college, she urgently wanted to get back to work. She entered a vocational training program provided by the United Cerebral Palsy United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), sometimes known as United Cerebral Palsy Associations, is a network of affiliated groups in the United States which works to "advance the independence, productivity and full citizenship of people with disabilities" (from UCP's mission statement), Foundation. Even though Ms. Wilson was an experienced secretary, the task of mastering a new technology and the skills to go along with it took time and commitment. Ms. Wilson now says, looking back on her training, "You just have to use the technology--you can't be afraid of it." Because of it, Ms. Wilson is working at home transcribing medical tapes. She wears earphones, and presses the Play and Rewind buttons on the tape recorder with her forehead. The DragonDictate program allows her to "talk" the tape contents into text. Her old PC is slow, but she's working 24 hours a week. This year, for the first time in a long time, she had the thrill of paying taxes on her earned income Sources of money derived from the labor, professional service, or entrepreneurship of an individual taxpayer as opposed to funds generated by investments, dividends, and interest. ! Ms. Wilson sent out over 90 application letters before landing her present job. "We can do the work," she says, thinking about some employers' reluctance to hire people with disabilities. "We just go about it a little differently." More than one voice I put on my head-mike and loaded up the NaturallySpeaking program one morning before my first cup of coffee to find out what the computer would make of my croaky croak n. A low hoarse sound, as that characteristic of frogs and crows. v. croaked, croak·ing, croaks v.tr. 1. To utter in a low hoarse sound. 2. Slang To kill. morning voice. "I just wanted to see what would happen speaking this early on morning when McCoy says of oven of a fraud at." Not too bad. (What I said was "I just wanted to see what would happen speaking this early in the morning when my voice has a frog in it.") Apres coffee was much more successful. Some people with MS experience slurred slur tr.v. slurred, slur·ring, slurs 1. To pronounce indistinctly. 2. To talk about disparagingly or insultingly. 3. To pass over lightly or carelessly; treat without due consideration. speech as a symptom, and this could present a problem to voice recognition programs. If speech is slurred most of the time, the user would simply train the computer to recognize this voice. But if speech becomes slurred intermittently or when the person is fatigued--a typical MS story--the program won't recognize what is said. There is a solution to this, though not an easy one. Several software programs allow for multiple voice profiles. Someone with intermittently slurred speech, or with allergies for that matter, can maintain 2 voice profiles, and switch between them as necessary. The downside is that all corrections or fine-tuning made for one profile have to be replicated in the other. Talking the talk The new voice recognition programs are being used by a wide variety of people: data entry people with carpal tunnel syndrome carpal tunnel syndrome: see repetitive stress injury. carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) Painful condition caused by repetitive stress to the wrist over time. ; fiction writers experimenting with dictation as a creative mode; CEOs who never learned to type; and people with physical disabilities who would not otherwise have access to a computer or a job. The people I spoke with for this article were using different voice recognition programs to do many different things, professionally and on a personal level. If you think that this software might be useful for you, first speak with a professional consultant or vendor to clarify your goals. The major software manufacturers list some vendors on their web sites. You can also check whether your nearest Vocational Rehab Center offers software training of this sort. Second--have patience. I know how long it took me! (*) "Willow Tree" is available on CD for $15, and on cassette for $12, and may be ordered from: Linda Storey Publishing, P.O. Box 1784, Englewood, CO 80150. Or order online: www.LindaStore.com. RELATED ARTICLE: Speech Recognition Tips The following list can help you set up your speech software for maximum performance and save you a fistful fist·ful n. pl. fist·fuls The amount that a fist can hold. Noun 1. fistful - the quantity that can be held in the hand handful containerful - the quantity that a container will hold of hair if you can't seem to get your system to work the way it does on the TV commercials where "you talk and it types". Hardware Considerations * Typically you need to have at least a Pentium 166 (MHz) with 32MB of RAM and about 65MB of hard drive space. You will need more RAM if you are running WinNT. Buy the best PC you can afford. * All speech recognition products list compatible soundcards either on the software box, in their manuals, or on their web sites. Play it safe and make sure you have an industry-standard 16-or 32-bit soundcard, or a built-in sound system that is "Sound Blaster" compatible. * Many of the stand-up stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. microphones that are shipped with new PCs will not work with speech recognition software. Most speech software is shipped with a microphone that will deliver excellent quality sound. * To test your microphone, first record your voice to the Windows Sound Recorder. If the playback is loud and clear, you probably won't have any problems with recognition. If it is fuzzy, muted, or otherwise distorted, check the rest of this list before you install your software. [Note: the Windows Sound Recorder can be found in Start/Programs/Accessories/Multimedia.] * If you can't get a clean recording in the Windows Sound Recorder, affix affix v. 1) to attach something to real estate in a permanent way, including planting trees and shrubs, constructing a building, or adding to existing improvements. the microphone cord to the bottom of your desk with tape so that it is not touching any other components or cords. This can eliminate electrical interference that can distort your audio input. Improving Recognition after Installation * Moving your microphone just one inch can throw your recognition rate out the window. For best results, place the microphone about one thumb length away from and to the side of your mouth. * The speech engine will perform best if you are speaking with careful enunciation enunciation (inun´sēā´sh  n),n an auxiliary function of teeth, particularly those in the anterior sector of the dental arch; the formation of sounds . If other people can understand you, chances are so can the speech engine. * The better speech recognition products use syntax and pace as part of the algorithms for recognizing your speech, so you will get higher accuracy if you dictate in complete thoughts and sentences. Help is Available Whether you are a first-time computer user or a technology specialist, voice recognition can be tricky to set up and even trickier to learn. Don't fret. Most speech recognition products come with optional multimedia tutorials and well-documented manuals. Both IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and Dragon also offer online help that is easy to navigate and always available. If you will be using your speech recognition software at your workplace, you may want to utilize a consultant familiar with both voice recognition software and your application suite. A good consultant can help you build productivity-enhancing tools so that your software delivers business results for a long time to come. Both IBM and Dragon offer referrals to consultants nationwide. A. Erik Chesla is a speech recognition consultant for Quantum Leap Systems in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . He specializes in technology solutions for people with physical disabilities. He can be reached at echesla@quantumleapsys.com or 212-473-9060. Lorna Smedman is managing editor of this publication. |
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