Speech recognition software

[Loose rivets]

The kids presented me with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 last night. It was a prezzy, but till now, I hadn't realized just how expensive it was. $ 130 - 200 depending on the vendor. I don't want to open the box unless it will go on Win 7.


Their web says a lot about Vista, as does a couple of forums, but I've failed to find any reference to W7. Is anyone familiar with this soft, and W7 operation of same?


EDIT: SSE2 instruction set for AMD processors. What's this? And how do I find out if my old HP desktop has it? And why can't kids buy prezzies that suitable for time-expired old fogies?

[Mike-Bracknell]

Yes, i'm familiar with it. It's probably the best SR software on the market at the moment, but unfortunately unless you have the patience of a saint and the diction of a pre-war BBC presenter you'll find yourself frustrated with it in short order.

Nice idea by the kids though :ok:

[Loose rivets]

I'm told I don't have an American accent and that I have a youthful voice, but
BBC English? ... dunno if I can get rid of the Essex farm boy component.

I've decided to put it on the Laptop. It hasn't been used for anything else, and since I don't like the keyboard, I guess it's a no-brainer.

Just for fun, I'll let you know how I get on.


The forum said that it would only install on one computer. So annoying. But then, so is software theft I suppose. Also, it has to be live on the net. Gotchas everywhere.

[Keef]

I had a trial version of one of those years ago. It was surprisingly good!

I left the scary Parish Magazine Editor to dictate a long article (she seemed to think I'd be happy to type it at her dictation). I came back half an hour later. The document was finished, but it was well sprinkled with "no, stupid machine, oh I don't know" and the like.

I was impressed with how it would pick a wrong word (seen / scene etc) but go back and correct it after a few more words. She and I learned just to plough on, and correct at the very end of the process.

Then the trial ran out, and I saw the price for the full version!

[Loose rivets]

I own an apology to the software. It will go onto two computers, but will not allow two users.

It insists on its database being on C despite installing on D :ugh: That's really annoying.


Hee hee...I tried an IBM one years ago. A little kid we were looking after watched and unfortunately listened to my efforts.


"The cat sat on the mat. Oh, bollox!...the Man had a red convertible car. Oh, bollocks!! etc., etc..


The thing was, that the Bollox came out perfectly, while the rest was nonsense.

Don't worry about the kid, it was already his favorite word and I'd caught it off him.:hmm:

[Loose rivets]

Mmmm....well, it seems to work reasonably well. When it does go off at a tangent, it really goes, so that seems to imply that it is to some extent predictive. The fact that it is better to speak fairly quickly, also seems to indicate that it views sentences in coherent lumps rather than the part of its sum.

The book seems now to say that more than one can use it. :ugh: I'll just not mention any more information, lest it be duff.


DO NOT USE THE FUNNY TEXT TO TEACH IT.

I had an uncontrollable fit of the giggles when I got to the part about electricity being held in by air pressure (Stephen Hawking) and coming to us on wires with squirrels hoping about flicking their tails.

I suppose it's possible that Hawking really did say that.

Okay, now to write a chapter before bed.

[Spitoon]

I've been using Dragon v10 for a while - only for writing papers and reports because I don't find it practical for shorter things.

Yes, you need to speak clearly. But, boy, is it faster than my typing and lets me concentrate on the words rather than the keyboard.

And yes, it cost a few quid, but of all the software I've bought, this one is worth the money and I'd do it again. I can't say that for all the other bits and pieces that I've spent good money on over the years!

[Loose rivets]

Well, that's encouraging. I was just at the Fling it out the window! stage.

Sometimes it can seem good, then as I said, it really goes off course. I guess when I've taught it some words, it'll be a lot more helpful.

It seems to have learned lock gates quite well, but some quite simple words are fooling it. Water, is one. The third time it printed Walter, the next thing on the screen was: No! Walter, not f:mad:ing Walter!!!!

Didn't help a jot, except to make me feel better.


The thing is, I can type quite quickly, but it would be nice to be able to sit back in the cooler end of the house and just speak. Right now, it would take longer to edit it than it would to write it. Hopefully, I can turn that around.

[Loose rivets]

I did a looooooong retraining session tonight, and it's still c:mad:p. However, one thing might raise a smile.

I needed to say something to it.

"Clearly, I can't expect the software to recognize the difference between Will and will, and expect to edit this particular inexact he chewed...."

"Flocking Thing!" Was the next text recorded.

The word Undo, wipes the entire screen. So, when I get to the bit about undoing something, that's my efforts lost.:(

Nothing I can do will make it recognize 'hard'. how hard = how hard, hard by itself, = followed! Time and time again. Training just that word doesn't help a jot.


During the install, I plumped for American English. After all, my WP etc., is set for that. But, does this mean that it will expect an American accent? Both are choices in this software, but I have never seen them separated during the install and training. Clearly, there are going to be Brits here that use American settings but speak proper.

It seems to be saying, that if you're this side of the Atlantic, you'll darn well speak American.

[green granite]

Don't try too hard, just sit there and hold a quiet, one-sided conversation with it rather than dictating to it.

[jimtherev]

Don't try too hard, just sit there and hold a quiet, one-sided conversation with it rather than dictating to it.
There are occasions when I do this with my machine, too - and I haven't even got speech recognition installed.

Doesn't seem to make much difference though...

[green granite]

:D :D :D .....................

[Mike-Bracknell]

have you considered getting a branch and giving it a damn good thrashing? :ok:

[The late XV105]

I'm a great fan of the speech recognition software on my Blackberry Pearl but (lack of) sensitivity problems with a replacement Bluetooth headset of different make to it's excellent predecessor (that I had left on the roof of the car and then driven off...) lead to the idea for a game when I was a bored passenger one day.

Instead of "Call Fred Bloggs Home" or "Call Aunty Mabel Mobile" try "Call the F*ck Ugly One" or "Call The Twit".

The resultant "Did you say call XYZ?" was often hilarious!