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PC World
The Duo talk to a new and
improved Dragon.
PC World - 14th April 2005
Speech Recognition (Part 1)
Speech recognition has left behind its early days
of inaccuracy and awkwardness and has earned a degree from the
school of usability. The technology is becoming a common feature (or
annoyance) in customer-service phone menus, which allow you to say
the option you want instead of pressing a corresponding number. The
Duo tries out ScanSoft's Dragon Naturally Speaking 8, which has long
been considered the best program for dictating text to a computer,
but wasn't quite ready for everyday use--until now.
The latest version of Dragon streamlines the
process of going back and correcting mistakes made by either you or
the software. It's easier now to choose what you meant from a
drop-down menu, and as before, the software actually learns from its
mistakes each time you correct it.
Installation starts with calibrating the included
headset and reading passages off the screen from books by Scott
Adams or Dave Barry. Steve and Angela, for once, agree on something:
Setting up a voice-recognition package is much more fun when you can
laugh while you speak.
The Duo put
Dragon to the test.
PC World - 14th April 2005.
Speech Recognition
(Part 2).
Once Dragon's NaturallySpeaking software is
installed and calibrated, it increases its accuracy under its own
steam by perusing your documents and e-mail and picking out common
names and phrases that you use. Steve is highly impressed that it
was smart enough to spell "Gunn" with the extra "n" when referring
to Angela, while using one "n" when referring to "gun control."
Pronouncing all the punctuation can be a pain, however; the program
has an auto punctuation mode, but it isn't accurate enough to be
useful.
NaturallySpeaking 8 integrates well with common
word processors like Microsoft Word. You can use voice commands
within these programs to do basic tasks such as formatting, moving
the cursor, and saving your file. The program doesn't always work
perfectly, though--trying to select the word "all" may trigger the
"select all" command, highlighting the entire document. Some
features are still best left to the mouse.
NaturallySpeaking 8 doesn't take much horsepower to
run, and the Duo agree it can save your wrists from some serious
strain. A $700 Professional edition is available, but the Standard
($100) or Preferred ($200) editions are good enough for most
people's needs.
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