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Dragon Voice Recognition System
Cool Tools
By Keith Shaw (Network
World 22/02/07)
What it is:
The latest speech-recognition software from Nuance, Version 9 of
Dragon NaturallySpeaking includes improved speech accuracy (company
claims 20% more accuracy than Version 8), support for additional
applications (including Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird), and less
training required than previous versions. With the software, users
can dictate letters and e-mails (with Outlook support, among
others), and conduct Web browsing by using their voice instead of a
keyboard. The professional version came with an Andrea Electronics
anti-noise headset (microphone and headphone combination), so we
didn't need to use a third-party microphone (this may vary with the
other editions).
Why it's cool:
It's been a while since I looked at speech-recognition software, and
accuracy was important to me. After a quick training session, in
which I read some text and the software scanned some of my columns
and e-mails to assess my writing style, I was ready to go. As long
as I spoke relatively clear and at a normal pace (Nuance recommends
not speaking slowly or too quickly), the software figured out what I
was saying. I also enjoyed being able to scan, reply to and delete
e-mails without having to use a mouse and keyboard. When mistakes
were made, I could easily correct them. For heavy-duty users, the
advanced features, including letting you create custom voice
commands (macros) and specialized vocabulary additions, were
impressive.
Some caveats: I think and type
at the same time, so when I write a column there are stretches when
nothing happens because I'm trying to think of the right word or
phrase. With speech, you have to know what you want to say before
you say it. While the editing functions let you change words and
phrases after you're done with the initial dictation, it takes time
to get comfortable with the software.
This version seemed to work only
with Windows 2000 and XP; we couldn't try this on a new Windows
Vista system, and it looked like Version 9 wouldn't be available for
Vista. Nuance says a Windows Vista version is "coming soon."
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