2008 Woodie Awards
Get that in writing! Speech-to-text software
Lucinda Sutherland
BizTech Writer
Issue date: 3/5/07 Section: BizTech
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This kind of speech-to-text technology is available, but it isn’t always as simple as in our dreams.
Software capable of converting the spoken word into printed text can make the most of your time, but only after you take the time to help the program recognize your speech and learn to use commands it will recognize.
One of the most popular voice recognition programs is Dragon Naturally Speaking produced by Nuance. Introduced in the 1990s, Dragon programs have gone through several transformations and updates. The latest version, Dragon Naturally Speaking 9, is a dramatic improvement compared to the older versions. Teaching your computer to recognize your speech pattern and writing style used to require the user to read a script into the computer’s microphone.
This step has been bypassed. The program actually searches through the user’s computer, analyzing documents and e-mail to familiarize itself with the user’s style. Reading the script is still recommended, but it is only imperative for users who have strong accents or speech impairment.
Several versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 are available: Standard, Preferred, Medical and Legal.
The Standard version is priced at $99. The specialized versions costing approximately $50 more. They are already selling on eBay for somewhat lower prices – an average of $80 for Standard 9.
More and more of these programs are now compatible with digital voice recorders so busy people can record on the go and let their computer turn it into text later.
Dragon advertises that it is Bluetooth compatible and can be used to surf the Internet, write e-mails and business letters, as well as transcribe notes.
It is less accurate at transcribing interviews or meetings because it has difficulty recognizing multiple speakers.
Dragon Naturally Speaking 8 is available in the Albertsons Library on the BSU campus as assistive technology for students who need it.
While originally designed for PC users, versions of Dragon are also available for Macintosh users.
Most of the speech-to-text programs originated for PC users and have been adapted for Macintosh products. ViaVoice and Dragon have both been adapted for Mac users.
The iListen program, released by Macintosh in 2003, was noted for its ability to transcribe audio files. ViaVoice was not a terribly successful product, but iListen seems to have been better received by consumers.
As with Dragon Naturally Speaking, iListen requires some training time for both the user and the software.
There are also speech recognition programs specifically designed for math applications, writing eloquent business documents, writing in foreign languages and standard security applications.
The good news is that advances are bringing the prices of these technologies down to a more affordable level. The downside is the time involved in learning how to use the program and helping it adapt to your speech patterns.
If you don’t mind the possibility that passers by will know what you are writing or where you are surfing, voice recognition software might be just what you need to meet your deadlines.
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