RationalBiker Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I have been experimenting with the voice recognition software in Microsoft Vista. I was able to type this entire entry without touching my computer. This thing is absolutely awesome. It is amazing how seamlessly integrated this feature is throughout the operating system. Admittedly, this system is not without problems. Sometimes you have to make corrections to the dictation but I would say that it gets it right about 98% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aequalsa Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I have been experimenting with the voice recognition software in Microsoft Vista. I was able to type this entire entry without touching my computer. This thing is absolutely awesome. It is amazing how seamlessly integrated this feature is throughout the operating system. Admittedly, this system is not without problems. Sometimes you have to make corrections to the dictation but I would say that it gets it right about 98% of the time. Sweet. How does the mouse activity work? Scrolling down, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Sweet. How does the mouse activity work? Scrolling down, for example. Well scrolling works simply by saying "Scroll Down", "Scroll Up", etc. In many cases, you can simply say what you see on the active window and it will press it or do it. If in doubt you can say "Show Numbers", and everything that can be clicked on on the active window will have a number overlayed on it and you simply say the number then "Okay". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aequalsa Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 Well scrolling works simply by saying "Scroll Down", "Scroll Up", etc. In many cases, you can simply say what you see on the active window and it will press it or do it. If in doubt you can say "Show Numbers", and everything that can be clicked on on the active window will have a number overlayed on it and you simply say the number then "Okay". Cool. Too bad, though, that the anti-trust folks were not able to shut them down. Innovations like this are really going to take away all motivation for movement... *not serious* I remember playing with a voice recognition program not even 5 or 6 years ago and it was pretty much useless. Nice to see the improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 I remember playing with a voice recognition program not even 5 or 6 years ago and it was pretty much useless. Nice to see the improvement.I suspect much of the improvement is attributable to better CPU and memory resources. When I tried one such program about 5 years ago, I found it was pretty decent from an error-rate point of view, but was extremely sluggish on my fastest computer. BTW: Not to be a scaremonger, but there is a general recommendation on the internet not to enable voice-commands for OS operations. The idea is that one might hit a hackers web-site when your speakers are on, and the site plays a recording saying "Delete C:*.*". A bit far-fetched, but a smart hacker will figure out a way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted February 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 BTW: Not to be a scaremonger, but there is a general recommendation on the internet not to enable voice-commands for OS operations. The idea is that one might hit a hackers web-site when your speakers are on, and the site plays a recording saying "Delete C:*.*". A bit far-fetched, but a smart hacker will figure out a way. Yea, MS already recognized this to be a potential "very low risk" possiblity. The exploit they specifically mentioned was getting an email with an attached sound file which could do the same thing if the sound file was played. I'm not overly concerned with that possiblity. It is very responsive, probably as you say because of improvements in hardware. At this point I'm playing around with it to improve it's recognition of my speech pattern and to train myself in ways to use it beneficially. Okay, and because it's fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwertz Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 That raises an interesting question, though: How does the voice recognition system deal with User Account Control? If you vocally order the system to do something it needs administrator privileges to do, can you also grant administrator privileges (click the "Continue" button) vocally? Or do you need to use the mouse? -Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 (edited) Does it let you build a vocabulary in some way, like adding to a speller dictionary? Edited February 6, 2007 by softwareNerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted February 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 How does the voice recognition system deal with User Account Control? I turned UAC off so I can't really answer that. Does it let you build a vocabulary in some way, like adding to a speller dictionary? I'm not sure on this. I'll have to look into that more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidV Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Or do you need to use the mouse? *Tries.* Looks like you do. Does it let you build a vocabulary in some way, like adding to a speller dictionary? It learns automatically from your corrections. It also analyzes the content of your documents (it asks for permission first.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidV Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 BTW: Not to be a scaremonger, but there is a general recommendation on the internet not to enable voice-commands for OS operations. The idea is that one might hit a hackers web-site when your speakers are on, and the site plays a recording saying "Delete C:*.*". I tried this, but it didn't work. If you have a directional mike (such as a headset) it will not hear the speakers. Most microphones are either highly directional, or (like my cheap webcam mike) don't have enough fidelity to understand the recording. I suspect that the technology used to cancel out echo would also make this extremely unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwertz Posted February 6, 2007 Report Share Posted February 6, 2007 Being a tablet user, I'm particularly interested in the new ink interface. I tried out the beta a while ago and found the handwriting recognition system fantastically more useful than XP's. Like the voice recognition system, it learns from your corrections, and allows you to go through a similar training process as with voice recognition. It has you handwrite several pages of known text and learns your handwriting from that. I want to try out the voice recognition in lecture using a hypercardioid microphone. More as a test-of-concept, though. My classes are a bit too interactive for a one-sided transcript to be of much use. Vista isn't available through my school's campus subscription license until April, and I see no reason to "change horses midstream," to abuse a turn of phrase. I shall wait until after finals. -Q Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Microsoft is increasing it's push into voice-recognition technology. It has bought "TellMe Networks" for $800 million. "Simple" voice-recognition is probably familiar to anyone who use a call center ("say YES or press ONE now") ... services allow American Airlines travellers to check flight details and Dominos Pizza customers to place an order without speaking to any body. Tellme's chief executive officer, Mike McCue said its services were used in by about 40 million people each month. "We think you should just be able to say, 'Show me the Daily Show,' (and be) watching what you want on TV just by speaking it," Mr McCue said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galileo Blogs Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 I once helped beta-test a voice recognition system for a financial services firm I worked for in 2000. It worked remarkably well. Simply by speaking clearly and at a measured pace, it nearly perfectly transcribed my voice. Our firm had intended to use it to speed up production of research reports, but decided not to, probably for cost reasons given the market downturn that began that year. I am very impressed that Microsoft is driving this technology down to the mass-consumption level by incorporating it into Vista. Along with handwriting recognition, these technologies are making computers into the futuristic robotic-type assistants we see only in science fiction. Science fiction is not so; it is fact that we enjoy more and more every day. Innovations like these make me enjoy being alive in today's world, despite all the problems it does have. I also cheer Microsoft who doggedly innovates despite the Lilliputian bindings cast about its giant's body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus98876 Posted March 22, 2007 Report Share Posted March 22, 2007 I have been experimenting with the voice recognition software in Microsoft Vista. I was able to type this entire entry without touching my computer. This thing is absolutely awesome. It is amazing how seamlessly integrated this feature is throughout the operating system. Admittedly, this system is not without problems. Sometimes you have to make corrections to the dictation but I would say that it gets it right about 98% of the time. Well, I wish I could say my expereinces with it have been so positive. It does not seem to like my Kiwi accent a lot. Granted I speak a little faster than normal, and have a less than ideal microphone at the moment, and I havent had it long, but so far its more trouble than its worth correcting it all the time.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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