Ergoblog

Dragon Naturally Speaking Growing in Popularity as Productivity Tool

When I originally bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking (perhaps the most well known voice recognition software for the PC), I picked it up because I was having so much trouble with RSI (pain in my hands) that I couldn't work at the computer for more than an hour or so without having to quit for the day.  So I bought the software out of desperation, and I think it's a great option for people with hand or other issues that make typing and mousing tough. 

But lately I've noticed quite a few computer professionals blogging about how they've picked up Dragon for other reasons.  They don't have RSI, but they're finding that the program boosts productivity. 

Personally, I love writing and have stories dating back to the second grade, but I know a lot of people struggle with the process.   If that sounds familiar, you may find voice recognition software helps you with the article/blog post/book writing process. 

You might find it more comfortable to just speak your ideas and then edit later.  You might find it faster too.  In the product description, it's noted that most people only type 40 words per minute (okay, us computer geeks do 80) but can speak 120 words a minute.

Though you do have to spend some time training the program to recognize the nuances of your voice, I found Dragon Naturally Speaking worked extremely well for business and technical writing (it was a little flakier for recognizing made up names and places in my fantasy novel).  I also found it nice that I could kick back in my chair and relax or pace around the room while I was "typing" this way.  Also, though I never tried it, I believe you can set DNS up to import voice files, so if you take your mp3 player/recorder to the park to "write" your paper, you can have Dragon translate it to text when you get home.

So if you're looking for a way to boost your writing productivity, you might want to give voice recognition software a try.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9

Microphones for Voice Recognition Software

Which microphones are best for dictation software?  Anyone who's used voice recognition knows how important it is to have a quality mic for good results.  I've had good results with, and am still using, the Plantronics DSP 500 that I bought and did a review on over a year ago.  If you are wondering what other people like, over at Applelinks, Charles Moore--a Mac user who's been using dictation software for years--takes a look at what's out there: Musings on Microphones.  His article might be of particular interest for Mac users.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Article

If you're thinking about voice recognition software to give your hands a break, here's a recent article on Dragon NaturallySpeaking (the program I use): "Innovations: This Dragon responds -- with a little training"  It just covers the basics, but if you're new to voice recognition, it's a place to start.

"Dragon NaturallySpeaking is an add-on software that you can use on your desktop system or on your PDA. In addition to a highly accurate speech engine that runs on your desktop, this package comes with a speech recording application that runs on your Pocket PC or Palm device. So you can carry it on a plane to transcribe while you're on the road.

Like Microsoft's integrated speech recognition software, you need to train Dragon, which you can do by reading interesting chapters from popular books. So don't expect to open the box and use the product."

Voice Recognition Software Reviews

I've been somewhat reluctant to do reviews on the voice recognition software systems I've used (IBM Via Voice and Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7.0), mostly because I've used this stuff long enough that it's hard for me to give the prespective of someone trying to learn it from scratch.  I admit that even with experience I still find the software available today at best inefficient compared to typing and at worst frustrating to work with.  I am currently using Dragon, but not out of love.  However, for those who are considering buying voice recognition software (for some of us who have a history of RSI symptoms or other handicaps that preclude typing, it can be a needed alternative), there are some pretty good reviews out there. 

This review of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8.0 is recent and fairly thorough, so I recommend giving it a read.  Here's a shorter review that emphasizes DNS 8's Mobile Voice Recognition capabilities. And for Mac users, you can review the iListen review links I mentioned a few months ago.

SpeakToText, New Voice Recognition Software

A recent press release from CoolSoft LLC introduces SpeakToText v 2.0, its "flagship voice recognition software."  From the description, it doesn't sound different from anything that's on the market: "SpeakToText 2.0 is a speech to text software solution that allows users to dictate text and copy it to almost any application, including most popular chat programs, email clients and Microsoft Word."  CoolSoft does include a link to a free trial for SpeakToText at the bottom of the press release, however; I don't think Dragon NaturallySpeaking has free trials.  SpeakToText is cheaper than Dragon though. 

If anyone has used it, please post thoughts on the quality of the software.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 FAQ

In an article NatSpeak 8 FAQ's, columnist David Pogue answers some frequently asked questions related to the newest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Apparently, there's also a NaturallySpeaking 8 review that he wrote online at the New York Times, but I make a habit of not subscribing to pages that require subscriptions. I got to the FAQ without a login prompt, so hopefully that will remain free for all who cherish their anonymity. 

ScanSoft Dragon Naturally Speaking 8

iListen: Voice Recognition for the Mac

I'm not a Mac user, but I'm sure there are those out there who are curious what sort of voice recognition software is available for the Mac. iListen, a recently updated Mac-only voice recognition software application, is available for between $100-$150. iListen looks like it's basically the Mac version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It also has a new add-in called MouseAnywhere™ that allows cursor control with the voice. (Dragon allows this, too, but I find their version a little awkward--has anyone out there tried MouseAnywhere who would like to comment on its functionality?)

Related Links:
iListen Mac Voice Recognition Software Updated to Version 1.6.5
MacSpeech Releases MouseAnywhere™ ScriptPak

iListen at Amazon:

Voice Recognition Software, Improve Your Recognition

I've been using voice recognition software for about two years now. First IBM ViaVoice, then Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Now, I wouldn't say my recognition is perfect (especially when writing fiction), but it has improved to the point where I can get a page's worth of text down faster with Dragon than by typing (and I type 80 wpm). For me, there were a couple of things in particular that made noticeable leaps in recognition accuracy.

Better Microphone -- A few months back, I purchased a USB Plantronics Headset, and it was quite an improvement over the crummy little microphone that came with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Enunciate Carefully -- In everyday conversation, we have a tendency to slur words together or mumble. While people may be able to figure out what you're saying, chances are your computer won't.

Use Complete Phrases or Sentences -- This is sometimes hard for me, especially when I'm composing at the computer, but, much like the human ear, voice recognition software works better when it has a string of words to work with.

Quiet in the Room -- Recognition improves noticeably when outside noise is eliminated. Televisions, family members, stereos, even if they're not directly in your room, can present difficulties. I find that with my new headset I can "cheat" by playing MP3s through the ear phones.

Here are some good links with more tips for improving voice recognition:

Voice recognition software: Advice for the voice
Tips for Using Voice Recognition Software

Dragon NaturallySpeaking MS Word Tip

I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking for most of the writing and editing I do in MS Word. When I'm trying to jump to a specific word in the text, for example cat, I'll say, "select cat". Somehow, it seems that at least half the time there's another instance of the word "cat" on the screen, and Dragon naturally jumps to the one I wasn't looking at. Even if I say "select cat" again, Dragon stubbornly selects the same word. This is under the typical settings.

I found that by going to Options under the Tools menu, and checking "Select" command searches backwards, jumping around in the text became a little easier. First off, I know which way the cursor is going to jump (rather than going to the closest instance, it goes backwards from the cursor). Second, if Dragon does select the wrong "cat", repeating the command "select cat" now makes it jump to the next earlier instance of "cat" and so on up the screen.

Lost yet?

For those of you who do editing in Microsoft Word using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. For the rest of you, don't worry, this post is almost over...

One Gig of Memory Still Not Enough?

I don't know how many novelists (or in my case, wannabe novelists) there are out there who use voice-recognition software to write, but I suppose this applies to anybody who works with large MS Word documents.

Whenever my documents reach 100 pages or so, Dragon NaturallySpeaking slows waaaaaaay down. Basically, it becomes unusable.

I was blaming this on my old computer (1 gig processor and 256MB of RAM), but I recently purchased a new computer with a speedy 64-bit processor and one gig of RAM, among other snazzy doodads. The computer works great for video editing, recording stuff off TV, and just about anything else you can think of, but I still can't use Dragon NaturallySpeaking with large MS Word documents. By the way, I'm using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7.0 Preferred Edition, and I downloaded Service Pack 2, so technically it's 7.3.

It's not really a huge deal (I've gotten used to breaking down my novels into smaller files, or just working on a chunk at a time), but it's a bit of an inconvenience. For the record, I also had this problem when I used L&H VoiceXpress.

If anybody stumbles across this post and has any suggestions for tweaks or workarounds that I could try, please feel free to leave your comments. I'm not married to MS Office, so I'd be willing to try other Suites, or buy more RAM if I thought that would make a difference.