Windows 7 Understands
One thing is for certain, voice recognition technology has grown. This very article is being dictated using Microsoft’s speech recognition software. The software is integrated into Microsoft Windows 7 Professional. I have found it to be a generally reliable and useful system for dictation. It does take some getting used to however.
I started my Windows 7 speech recognition experience by taking the speech recognition tutorial. The training that it provided was useful. I think more attention could have been paid to the visual aspects of the lessons and tutorials. The lack of it made the training a bit dull.
Another important factor is training Windows 7 the way your voice sounds. Microsoft includes further material that allows the speech recognition engine to better understand the way you say the words. In fact the more you use it, the more it begins to understand your speech better. It learns many things about the way you speak. Not only does it learn how you pronounce specific words, but it can anticipate what you are likely to say. This has really improved performance greatly.
At this point I need to remind you of an old adage, “garbage-in, garbage-out.” The quality of your hardware does matter. If you don’t have a good microphone you will not get good performance. It is also recommended that you use a headset. Make sure the microphone is positioned properly. Keep it about 1 inch away from your mouth. In the training, Microsoft suggests that you try to talk like an announcer. The more clearly that you speak will improve the system’s accuracy.
According to various sources the first speech recognition systems started showing up in the 1950s. An early example of the technology was shown at the 1964 World’s Fair held in New York. In more modern history speech recognition has been used in telephone systems for some time now. These systems are known as interactive voice response systems or simply IVR. IVR Systems were a major stepping stone in pursuit of speech recognition. These systems were designed to understand very few responses. These were typically responses such as yes or no. The machines were easily able to distinguish between them. As processing power became more prevalent the introduction of digital signal processors these systems became more sophisticated. This allows for extended vocabularies for IVR Systems. But they were still very limited.
Not long ago Google offered a service known as Google 411. This was a free service that was offered by Google. It allowed people to search business listings including names and phone numbers using their voice on the phone. This service closed in November of 2010. They have used the information that they learned about people’s voices from the service. This body of knowledge now allows Google Mobile’s voice search features that are available on many of today’s mobile phones. Whether these phones are iPhone, Blackberry, HTC and other smart phones allow for these types of searches. I use my Blackberry 8330 often to get weather reports, maps and directions that include street level views of landmarks. I can do this simply with my voice. Newer phones can offer even more enhanced services.
It is clear that speech recognition has come a long way. It takes a little bit of getting used to. But we’re finding that more and more of the computers are able to understand what we say. Speech recognition is becoming a tool in our arsenal of communications.
My experience with windows 7 speech recognition suggests that it can be used in a reliable manner. It is relatively easy to use. But still takes a bit of practice. It has a wide range of commands that are available to you. When you are dictating there are commands that allow you to select and correct sentences and paragraphs. Even in dictation mode it still listens to the corrections and the selections that you make and helps it to understand more.
As a freelance writer, I’m constantly in search of tools that help me to be more productive. Sometimes my best thoughts come when I speak out loud. So in the future I will have to seriously consider using speech recognition. One viable option does seem to be the speech recognition that is included in Microsoft’s Windows 7.
If you’re confused about what you can say you may ask the computer, “What can I say? “. The system will then display a list of options that you can use the with program that you’re working in. Speech recognition in Microsoft Windows 7 allow you to open and close programs on your system. You may use your voice to start program such as Microsoft Word. This can be accomplished by saying, “open Microsoft Word.” The system will also let you interact with web browsers such as Internet explorer and Google Chrome.
Overall I enjoyed my experience with Microsoft Windows 7 speech recognition. Although it does take a little bit of practice, it may just be worth your while. In my next article I’ll review Dragon Naturally Speaking version 10. The series of programs produced by this company have been around for a long time. It should be interesting to compare of the technologies from two great competing companies.
