phantomcow2
08-02-06, 06:03 PM
Does anybody here use these? I am trying to find one for a person with an injured right shoulder, making typing difficult. Can you give a recommendation of a good brand, or comment on performance?
Foo - Voice to text systems
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sabretech2001
08-02-06, 09:28 PM
Dragon 'Speaking Naturally' & IBM's ViaVoice are two of the better ones. I've used them both. It will take some time for the program to learn how you speak. The word 'for' is a great example: not only will you get the numeral 4 at times, if you had pronounced for=four, and you said for=fer, guess what? You get 'fur'. It gets better over time, but the first week or so can be pretty infuriating.
Also, there's a freeware program out there called HalReader, and yes, Hal like 2001. It's the stripped down version of a pay-for version, but it works fine, especially for free :D . There are a few default voices, and you can vary them to suit yourself. It reads whatever text there is on the screen, including WIndows pop-up error messages! When your friend gets really bored, he can type in text, save it, and then use them to replace the sounds that windows makes. My friend has his computer yell 'D!ckhead!' instead of that clunk noise when there's a critical stop, and 'Die B@stard Die' for emptying the recycle bin.
Also, there's a freeware program out there called HalReader, and yes, Hal like 2001. It's the stripped down version of a pay-for version, but it works fine, especially for free :D . There are a few default voices, and you can vary them to suit yourself. It reads whatever text there is on the screen, including WIndows pop-up error messages! When your friend gets really bored, he can type in text, save it, and then use them to replace the sounds that windows makes. My friend has his computer yell 'D!ckhead!' instead of that clunk noise when there's a critical stop, and 'Die B@stard Die' for emptying the recycle bin.
KingTermite
08-02-06, 09:31 PM
Dragon "Naturally Speaking" is the only one that has been developed and continually improved for almost as long as I can remember. Surely its the best way to go.
sabretech2001
08-02-06, 09:49 PM
Yeah, what version are they up to now? Last one I noticed was 8.
Dragon comes in several versions. Get the top one, don't d!ck around. The lesser versions cost less because they take features out, so unless you're absolutely sure you won't use everything that's being deducted, just get the top one.
I forget what these cost, but if this need has come up at the right time, there might be earlier editions around in the discount bin.
Don't forget eBay, but only consider sealed packages. 'Lightly' or 'gently used' ("like new" as well) translates into real English as " had a coffe cup sitting on it when it wasn't being used as a frisbee"
Dragon comes in several versions. Get the top one, don't d!ck around. The lesser versions cost less because they take features out, so unless you're absolutely sure you won't use everything that's being deducted, just get the top one.
I forget what these cost, but if this need has come up at the right time, there might be earlier editions around in the discount bin.
Don't forget eBay, but only consider sealed packages. 'Lightly' or 'gently used' ("like new" as well) translates into real English as " had a coffe cup sitting on it when it wasn't being used as a frisbee"
KingTermite
08-03-06, 05:19 AM
Looks like v9 is the latest.
http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/
http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/
phantomcow2
08-03-06, 05:54 AM
Thanks folks. ViaVoice is what is being tried, to get familiar with these types of programs. Naturally Speaking may very well be on the horizon...
operator
08-03-06, 06:21 AM
These voice recognition programs are still quite a hassle though. Even with extensive training you still end up having to go back and edit words/proofread exactly what is going on.
It's also very tiring to dictate long documents.
It's also very tiring to dictate long documents.