It's mostly the voice.Three leading speech-recognition software companies want you to talk to your PC Speech-recognition software has gotten more powerful recently, but it still won't make your computer as easy to use as the one on board Star Trek's USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise is the name of a number of ships from the United States Navy. It is also the name of a number of ships from the fictional Star Trek universe. . From your car to your telephone to your toaster See intranet toaster and Video Toaster. (jargon) toaster - 1. The archetypal really stupid application for an embedded microprocessor controller; often used in comments that imply that a scheme is inappropriate technology (but see elevator controller). , computer programmers are trying to incorporate speech-recognition software to make it easier for users to control electronic devices. Computer software manufacturers are leading the speech-recognition revolution in an effort to enable you to dictate text directly to your PC, as well as control most of its functions with spoken commands. In the past, speech programs had limited dictation capabilities and required users to pause ... between ... each ... word. Current programs Promote continuous speech capability, but none are 100% accurate at handling the diversity of ways in which English is spoken at the normal pace of conversation. Similar-sounding words are often misinterpreted, and homonyms are even more difficult for machines to decipher Same as decrypt. . "Write" and "right" are equally likely to show up if you say"rite of passage rite of passage n. A ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person's life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood. ," never mind the word you're actually looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. . And although you don't have to pause between words in most of the new speech-recognition programs, you do (comma), however (comma), have to speak all the punctuation (period). The ability of the software program to recognize your speech is directly related to the processing power of your computer. Directions estimate setup times of between 15 minutes and an hour, but the more time you spend training the program to recognize your particular speech patterns, the better it will perform. MAC users should look for MAC OS compatible, speech-recognition software in the coming months. * Dragon System's "Dragon Naturally-Speaking Preferred 3.5," the hottest-selling speech-recognition application, uses its "BestMatch" technology to accurately bring your words to the screen at up to 160 words per minute Noun 1. words per minute - the rate at which words are produced (as in speaking or typing) wpm rate - a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit; "they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour"; "the rate of change was faster than expected" . The recognition dictionary includes 230,000 words initially, but you can add more words or phrases with a vocabulary builder. "NaturallySpeaking" allows you to edit documents on the go or when you are ready to review them. Dictation playback is an attractive feature that allows you to record your dictation in case you or an assistant need to check the original. The program also enables dictation into most Windows applications A program that is written to run under Microsoft's Windows operating system. Such applications typically run under all 32-bit versions of Windows, but earlier applications might also run under the 16-bit versions (Windows 3.x) as well. See Windows. , as well as America Online See AOL. , Corel, Lotus Notes Messaging and groupware software from IBM Lotus that was introduced in 1989 for OS/2 and later expanded to Windows, Mac, Unix, NetWare, AS/400 and S/390. Notes provides e-mail, document sharing, workflow, group discussions and calendaring and scheduling. , Eudora and others. Dragon's program will also read any type of document, such as e-mail, back to you on command. If you need to whip up documents when you're away from the office, Dragon also sells a portable recording device that will 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. spoken notes and documents when connected to your "NaturallySpeaking"-enabled desktop computer. If you're seeking accurate dictation or are working with long documents, "NaturallySpeaking" is probably the best bet. RETAIL PRICE: $199.00. For more information, log on to www.dragonsys.com or call 800-4DRAGON. * IBM's "ViaVoice 98 Executive Edition" uses a start-up wizard that can get, you using the program inside of 15 minutes (if you own a Pentium III The successor to the Pentium II from Intel. Introduced in the spring of 1999 at 500 MHz, the Pentium III architecture was similar to the Pentium II with the addition of 70 new instructions optimized for multimedia (see SSE). processor). The standard setup gives you a choice of training scripts and uses a "quick tips" feature throughout the program to continuously teach you how to better use various functions. The 260,000-word dictionary is based on the Worldbook Encyclopedia. This edition includes dictionary supplements to augment the program's use for business, finance and computer functions. "ViaVoice" supports dictation in most Windows applications. If your work uses a specific vocabulary, "ViaVoice" has valuable vocabulary additions to its already large dictionary. RETAIL PRICE: $149.00. For more information, visit www.software.ibm. com/speech or call 888-411-1WEB. * Lernout & Hauspie's "L&H Voice Xpress Professional Version 4" is one of the newest releases on the market. The program supports dictation into most Windows applications, and is particularly well integrated with Microsoft Office Microsoft's primary desktop applications for Windows and Mac. Depending on the package, it includes some combination of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook along with various Internet and other utilities. suites (Microsoft recently made a multimillion-dollar investment in the company), including Office 2000. The program transcribes up to 140 words per minute and uses a dictionary with 230,000 words. The professional version also includes extra vocabulary for business and finance, technology, leisure and news. Among this program's key features are the speech-activated "TalkingTools" desktop accessories, including a clock, address book, scheduler, calculator and Web-search tool. If you are interested in controlling computer functions, "Voice Xpress"wiLl also provide you with that capability. RETAIL PRICE: $149.99. For more information, log on to www.lhsl.com or call 800-634-8723x5100. |
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