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Jill asked whether anyone has experience using voice recognition products.
I have. I've used a Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition system for
about four months now. I wrote about some initial problems I had buying it
and getting started in a short article for the local STC newsletter soon
after I purchased it. I have put the text of the article on my web site if
anyone is interested
(http://www.pangea.ca/~dwhelan/VRarticle.htm).
I don't think trying the technology in a store will give you a very good
appreciation of it because you need to train the system to your own voice
and that takes time and patience.
The variables affecting recognition speed and accuracy are chiefly the
quality of your microphone and sound card for voice input, the speed of your
CPU and the amount of RAM you have, and the arrangement of components in
your PC for noise immunity. I have my system installed on a 150MHz Pentium
with 64MB of RAM, I use the (not very good) microphone and the basic sound
card (Acer) that came with the system. I find this setup adequate for my
needs--I get about 90% accuracy at my usual talking speed--but many people
report much better results using better hardware components.
I correct words and phrases by mouse, double-clicking on the offending
voice-o. A dialog box comes up and I type in the correction. There are other
methods (including voice activated mouse positioning and spelling out of the
correction) but this one suits me best. Incidentally, these voice-o's can be
very difficult to catch, more so than typos because they are correctly
spelled.
I can't comment on whether using the technology would disturb coworkers in
the next cubicle--I have my own office at home--but my wife works in an
office next door to mine and it doesn't disturb her. Extraneous sounds form
air-conditioning equipment or bathroom exhaust fans don't seem to affect my
system much, but others have different experience.
I think it's very subjective. I do not depend on the technology and only
wanted to improve my typing speed so in my case the tool was worth the
money. I don't need perfection and besides, I get many a chuckle from my
voice-o malapropisms, they can be hilarious.
Overall, I'd recommend the technology. Others will have a different view,
but you can be sure that voice-to-text technology is here to stay and is
improving even as you read this post.
