My last foray into the world of voice recognition software was a couple of years ago, with decidedly mixed results. But I assume the technology has probably improved since then, so I was thinking about giving it another shot.
Does anybody use any of these programs? Do they work? Are they worth the cost? In this case, price is not a huge object, although I’d prefer not to waste money if I can avoid it. The ability to deal with unusual accents and/or some advanced medical terminology would both be definite plusses.
I’ve had 2 friends use Dragon Dictate in the past year, when they had to limit their typing due to medical problems with their hands.
The program seemed to work pretty well, at least to get documents entered. You still have to edit them, even 99.9% accuracy means at least a couple of mistakes per page.
To me, the critical aspect seemed to be that you really do have to take the time (a few hours) to train the program to your voice & style of speaking. The friend who did was happy with it, the one who didn’t take the time was never really satisfied. Don’t think you can install it and have it start understanding you right away!
P.S. One of the funniest sights I’ve ever seen was watching someone (who tends to talk to himself) starting out with this voice recognition software.
Watching them say “Oh, look, it got that word wrong. No, don’t type that! Wait! It’s typing everything I say! Stop, machine, stop! Damn it! How do you make this thing stop typing? Where’s the manual? …” had us truly rolling on the floor!
From what I recall of the last voice-recognition thread, the consensus is that the technology is where we’d like it to be, but give it a few years and maybe it will be.
But here’s my take: If you order from Dragon (and perhaps indirectly through your fave retailer), you get a 30-day, no-quibble money-back guarantee. Can’t beat that. Give it a go. You really don’t have anything to lose.
CORRECTION: From what I recall of the last voice-recognition thread, the consensus is that the technology is NOTwhere we’d like it to be, but give it a few years and maybe it will be. :smack:
Well, with all due respect to the other thread, there isn’t a single response from anyone who seems to have used any of this software recently. I’m really looking for more of a factual evaluation of current software technology, because I already know how it used to work.
I have used and was invovled in building systems for the Workers Compensation Board were I once lived. We were using Dragon Naturally Speaking in a project for injured workers which was very sucessful. I was working on the system builders side of the arrangnement. So for us it was sucessful the “WCB” was very satisfied witht the results. And even though as the builders we never had any interaction with the end users the feed back we got was always positive though emphasis was always placed on training the system to your voice.
For me it worked and I was happy with it. I have also known of people with very thick accents who were also impress once suitable “training” had been done.
Recognition accuracy is very good with either (same engine). Difference w/ Pro is better mike, macro editor, support for Outlook vs just Outlook express.
I believe that Dragon and Via Voice (IBM) have similar accuracy, but Dragon has an easier to use interface.
VR likes a pretty fast machine (at least PIII 500) and ample memory. Also, sound quality is important. For some notebooks and desktops, you get better recognition with a USB mike rather than using the sound card or built in sound.
One big improvement starting several versions ago with Dragon was speedy training. You can get pretty good accuracy after about 15 minutes. You also can/should scan some of your writing to allow the product to learn your vocabulary and style. After that you train out the mistakes.
I’d be dictating this but the kids are asleep in the next room.
If you are in the medical profession, get the Medical version.
Best to spend the extra money to buy that or Pro from a VAR.
If Boston, I recommend Peter Cohen Associates. He sells specialized vocabularies on top of Dragon Medical and templates etc.
Thank you very much, Lefty, for starting this thread. I’ve been wondering about the same thing.
But what about the voice that reads to you? Is it the same as Stephen Hawking’s computer talker? Does it inflect? Go up at the end of a question? SHOUT!!! when it should? And so on?
I had that same voice in some program awhile ago. I tried inputting “The Cremation of Sam McGe” by Robert Service. The readback was comical. To get the words pronounced properly, I had to resort to some highly imaginative phonetic spelling, and it never really got it all right. Not complaining, mind you. After all, this was in the mid to late 80’s if I remember right.
How would Dragon handle this thread? Just start reading away until you told it to stop? Or what?
If you end up having to buy a microphone for a VR program (you bought, say, from Ebay), what are the best ones to consider - approx prices too, if possible, please.
In general terms, accordign to what I recall from my VR software, the microphone is the single most importaint piece of equipment as you want to be able to send the best possible signal so the software has as much to work with as possible. For this reason most VR software (at least when I got it) came w/ their own mike
I’ve just discovered the VR feature in MS Office and have begun to train it. After only one training session, I dictated into MS Word a short letter I’d recently written and got >90% accuracy.
I tried dictating numbers into Excel, but found that awkward. Maybe it’ll get better with more training and practice, but numbers seem a trouble area.
Anyone else used the MS version? Did they write their own or license Dragon or someone else?
Lots of good advice at the site. The guy who runs the business seems to provide very good service, judging by the posts on the Dragon BBS at scansoft.com.
Many like the Andrea models, around $45-$55, the VXI Talk Pro is also good. Mikes bundled with Dragon are adequate, but if you did not get one, go for Andrea or VXI, unless you want to spend a lot more.
Sound card quality is important also. If you’ve got noise sound, you’ll need a little USB box to avoid the sound card altogether.
Lots of good advice at the site. The guy who runs the business seems to provide very good service, judging by the posts on the Dragon BBS at scansoft.com.
Many like the Andrea models, around $45-$55, the VXI Talk Pro is also good. Mikes bundled with Dragon are adequate, but if you did not get one, go for Andrea or VXI, unless you want to spend a lot more.
Sound card quality is important also. If you’ve got noise sound, you’ll need a little USB box to avoid the sound card altogether.