Voice Recognition Software
Brittany Holman: SED 540
What is Voice Recognition Software?
Voice recognition software allows you to talk to your computer
wearing a headset, so that what you say into the microphone is
typed on your screen. Some software also allows you to verbally
work the mouse on your computer.
Certain software also enables the computer to directly read text
to you from the computer screen.
Certain programs, specifically for people with a deteriorating
speech, save the user speech after every session so it is able to
keep up and still understand the speech next time.
Who is Voice Recognition Software Designed For?
Voice recognition software was initially designed for using in
automated phone systems, like when you call the cable company to
pay your bill and you talk with a machine.
This type of software is also used in businesses, primarily for
medical and legal transcriptions.
Which types of students with disabilities most benefit from
this?
Although not initially designed for students/people with
disabilities, voice recognition software has grown to be incredibly
helpful in this area.
People with no hands, or those that are unable to type for
whatever reason due to their physical disability, use this software
to help with schoolwork. This would include blind students as
well.
Also, students with learning disabilities benefit. For example,
a student with dyslexia that has trouble seeing the words they type
accurately would benefit from the speech to text factor to get
their papers done, and they would also benefit from the text to
speech factor seeing as they have trouble with reading words.
Popular Voice Recognition Software
It seems that in researching this topic, Dragon
NaturallySpeaking is the most popular software used. They even have
an app for your iphone! It has a 99% accuracy level, which is the
best out there. The Cons of this software is that it is very
expensive (about $200), and it uses a lot of computer memory.
Benefits of Voice Recognition Software
Voice recognition software helps children with physical and
mental disabilities stay on par with their peers, and puts them on
a more equal level. They are able to get the same information as
other students, even if they have trouble reading, and they are
able to communicate their ideas, even if they have trouble
writing/typing. It saves them time as well, as many students with
these disabilities would take much longer to read and write without
this software, and not get as accurate results.
Weaknesses of Voice Recognition Software
Although voice recognition technology has come a long way, it
still has some flaws. For example, even though you can talk fairly
conversationally and still have high accuracy, there are always
issues with having 100% accuracy, especially if you have a thick
accent.
It is also necessary that you do speech to text in a quiet room,
where background noise doesn't interfere with the recognition of
what you are saying.
Also, a significant amount of hardware space is taken up by
these programs, since they need to have an extensive vocabulary.
Depending on your computer, this can be harmful to it.
This software can also have difficulty with homonyms, so when
you say there, they could interpret it as they're or their as
well.
The Future of Voice Recognition Software
Scientists are currently working on a universal voice
recognition translator of sorts, where people of any language can
speak, and what they say can be translated into any language, in
both speech and text formats.
Though far in the future, it may also be possible for computers
to not only recognize what you are saying, but understand what you
are saying and communicate back with you as well. (crazy!)
Resources
http://www.hi2u.org/Dyslexic/Wha_%20is_voice.htm
http://www.ngtvoice.com/services/assistive/peel.htm
Http://electronics/howStuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/speech-recognition1.htm
http://www.consumersearch.com/voice-recognition-software
