Voice recognition software is ready for prime time

This is absolutely amazing! Regular readers will know that I do not say that very often. The fact is, I patiently reserve it for things just like this.

I'm writing this blog entry without touching my computer. I'm sitting back in my chair listening to music and speaking into a microphone. And so far, the computer hasn't made a single mistake. Dragon Naturally Speaking dictation software was amazing when I used it briefly a few years ago and, as one might expect, it has improved dramatically since then. I've trained it for only 20 or 30 minutes after installing it this morning and it is already at least 95% accurate. The accuracy will continue to improve every time I use it. It will continue learning my vocabulary, accent and speech habits.

Perhaps the most important addition to my setup, however, is the microphone I'm using. I've written about it before. TheBoom microphone has revolutionized my mobility during my work day. I call it my magic microphone. Using it, I can sit in a coffee shop full of people talking, music blaring, and conduct important conference calls without anyone on the other end of the line having any idea that I'm not sitting in my office. The microphone picks up everything I say, even if I'm whispering, but doesn't pick up any of the background noise.

With the Dragon voice recognition software and my magic microphone, I can sit in my office with music blaring or a noisy coffee shop and dictate documents, e-mail, IM -- whatever.

If you do a lot of typing every day, Dragon could save you both time and pain. I started feeling pain in my hands and lower arms a couple years ago and knew that I had to do something. I have improved my posture, increased the frequency of my breaks from the computer, and added a Wacom tablet to the mix. But none of these have made nearly the difference that voice recognition software has already. At this very moment I am leaning back in my chair with my hands behind my head stretching as I dictate. I can literally do healing hand exercises as I write!

There are new technologies coming out every day and, while many of them are very neat, few of them truly amaze me anymore. It's refreshing and exciting to discover new technologies and new applications of existing technologies that have such a massive, positive impact on my every day life.

Comments

[stumptown girl]

You'd think this technology would be available in so many different industries. 911 communications come to mind and any telephone-based customer service.

I also wonder how using it would impact creative writing. Seems like someone with a gift for writing could crank out a novel in 1/4 of the time!

[Robert]

That is great to hear! I remember buying Lernout & Hauspie's software 'back in the day' for well over $100 and being somewhat impressed that I could launch programs with my voice. But it did take a lot of training and was not very accurate. I'll have to check into this again. I had given up on it because I don't see any talk about it anymore.