Speech Recognition

Speech Recognition lets you speak into a microphone to control your computer. You can give commands that the computer will carry out and dictate text that will self-type on your screen. You can create a voice profile that trains your computer to understand you better. You can use Speech Recognition to dictate documents and email messages, use your voice to control programs and browse the web, and avoid repetitive strain injuries by reducing the use of your mouse and keyboard.

Outline of What We Will be Covering

1)What current Speech Recognition works for2)Ways to access Speech Recognition3)Setting up Speech Recognition4)Speech Recognition tutorial5)The Speech Recognition user interface6)Speech Options7)Common commands in Speech Recognition8)How does Speech Recognition work?9)Demonstration of Windows 7 Speech Recognition

Currently Speech Recognition works for- 1)Nearly all applications that come with Windows &2)In Microsoft Word and Outlook (but just in a limited way in Microsoft Excel & Powerpoint)

Speech Recognition is supported in all editions of Windows 7 and is available in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).

A high quality microphone such as a USB headset with noise cancellation technology works best (especially if you work in a noisy place). This is because the USB headset provides an all digital signal path.

There are several ways to access Speech Recognition-

1)Choose Start > All Programs > Accessories > Ease of Access > Speech Recognition, or

2)Choose Start > type in Speech Recognition in the search box > then press enter, or

3)Choose Start > Control Panel > Ease of Access > Use the Computer without a Mouse or Keyboard > Speech Recognition

Once you have accessed Speech Recognition for the first time you can-

1)Start Speech Recognition and establish a user profile2)Set up your microphone for first use3)Take the Speech Tutorial4)Train your computer to better understand you, &5)Open up the Speech Recognition Reference Card which lists common commands used in Speech Recognition and to which you can refer at any time should you get stuck or are unsure how to proceed. This card can be printed, allowing for easy reference.

(demonstration of the Configure your Speech Recognition experience window in control panel)

After you have set up your microphone and established a user profile for yourself your first hour of learning Speech Recognition begins when you start the Speech Recognition tutorial and you are taken through the entire process of setting things up and learning how to use this feature. By paying close attention to what the tutorial tells you to do you’ll soon be brought up to speed on the basics of using Speech Recognition. This step should not be skipped for best results.

(Speech tutorial video)

When you are finished setting things up and taking the tutorial you should see a round Notification area icon on the right side of the taskbar or the Speech Recognition user interface on the desktop.When the Speech Recognition notification area icon or user interface is visible you can speak to activate (wake up) or speak to deactivate (put to sleep) Speech Recognition, move the Speech Recognition icon or you can see commands you can say by opening up the Speech Reference Card. In lieu of or in addition to having the Speech Recognition notification area icon you can place a shortcut to Speech Recognition on the desktop , which I have done on my computer.

(demonstration of the Speech Recognition user interface- plug in microphone)

Once you are in the Speech Recognition window you can set up the Speech Options. To do this you select the Advanced Speech Options-

1)In the Language section choose Microsoft Speech Recognition 8.0 for Windows (English- US)

2)In the Profiles section click New to create a new recognition profile (voice profile) for your voice and then follow the onscreen instructions when the wizard opens. More then one user can establish a voice profile. The wizard takes you through all the steps that are required to set up speech recognition and enables you to learn some of the commands and to train the computer to better understand you.

3) In the Train Your Computer to Better Understand You section additional training can be performed which will further improve speech recognition. This training can be repeated as often as needed.4)In the Microphone section you need to select the type of microphone you will be using and follow the advise given to position the microphone effectively and then read the text aloud to make sure the microphone is working properly. 5) Follow the prompts to choose Manual or Voice Activation mode to run (or not run) Speech Recognition when Windows starts. Your can use Manual Activation mode unless you are always planning to control your computer by voice.

When you start Windows, Speech Recognition will start up and switch itself into Sleep mode (voice activation mode) or Off mode (manual activation mode) depending upon which mode you have set. If it is Off then right-click the Speech Recognition bar and select Sleep. Then say Start Listening or click the button on the bar to begin Speech Recognition. When you are using Speech Recognition and you get stuck and can’t remember what a Speech Recognition command is you can open up the Speech Reference Card.To do this say “What Can I Say?” (or right click the Speech Recognition bar and click Open Speech Reference Card).

Included in Windows Speech Recognition is a listing of Common Commands in Speech Recognition which can be printed out for easy reference and study. This listing groups commands under the following categories for easy reference:1)Frequently used commands2)Commands for working with text3)Commands for using the keyboard keys4)Commands for punctuation marks and special characters5)Commands for using common controls6)Commands for working with Windows, and7)Commands for clicking anywhere on the screenTo access this listing right click on the Speech Recognition bar and click Open Speech Reference Card or say “What can I say?”

How does Speech Recognition Work?

To convert speech to on-screen text or a computer command a computer has to go through several complex steps:1)When you speak you create vibrations in the air. The analog-to-digital converter converts this analog wave into digital data that the computer can understand. The system filters the digitized sound to remove unwanted noise and normalizes the sound to a constant volume level.2)Next the signal is divided into small segments as short as a few hundredths of a second (or smaller).

The program then matches these segments to known phonemes which are the smallest element of a language and is a representation of the sounds we make and put together to form meaningful expressions. The English language has roughly 40 phonemes.3) Finally, and this is the step hardest to accomplish, the program examines phonemes in the context of other phonemes around them, running the contextual phoneme through a complex statistical model, comparing them to a large library of known words, phrases and sentences. This results in the program determining what the user is probably saying and either outputs it as text or issues a computer command.

Earlier systems were rules-based systems and were largely unsuccessful because they couldn’t handle variations of accents, dialects, mannerisms, and enunciations, nor could they handle continuous speech.Today’s speech recognition systems use more powerful and complicated statistical modeling systems which use probability and mathematical functions to determine the most likely outcome. Early and later systems have both required the user to input training data which is used to create acoustical models of words, word lists and multi-word probability networks.

Speech recognition is not yet 100% perfect but some of these factors are issues that continue to improve as technology improves. Some can be improved through training by the user. Other things that will increase accuracy include:1)A quiet room with low background noise2)A quality microphone (preferably USB, one with the microphone approximately one inch from the edge of the mouth corner)3)A high quality sound card4)Enunciation of words spoken clearly5)Dictation in short phrases or entire sentences6)A fast computer with adequate RAM and hard drive space

Speech recognition systems have trouble recognizing two words that are spelled differently and have different meanings but sound the same (homonyms) such as there/their and air/heir. A speech recognition program can’t tell the difference between these words based on sound alone, but through extensive training by the user and with use of a statistical model speech recognition program that takes into account word context, accuracy in this regard may be greatly improved. Also, names and slang terms that aren’t in the built in dictionary (or have been placed there by you) are often mistaken for similar sounding words from the dictionary. You, as the user, can improve this by using the “correct that” command (where appropriate), by adding words to the speech dictionary, and with the use of repeated training sessions.

It should be noted that Windows 7 Speech Recognition has its limitations, and for those with a great need for more accurate speech recognition, Dragon Naturally speaking, now in its 13th version, is a better choice (but it may be expensive depending upon the features selected).

(presentor demonstration of Speech Recognition)