Insight Publication

Speak to Your Computer and Let it Do the Typing

If you were a fan of the old ‘Star Trek’ movies, you may remember the one where they go back to the Twentieth Century to rescue a whale.  In that movie, Scotty tries to talk to the computer, but it won’t answer him, and he is forced to type in the request for the information he needs. If you have ever found it cumbersome to type documents and letters, you may have wondered if anyone has yet invented a real program that allows you to talk while the computer acts as your secretary and types the text for you.  Welcome to the future!  No longer is this simply a science fiction type of program, you can actually speak to your computer!

There are actually several types of programs like this.  Some of them were developed to assist people with disabilities who could no longer use their hands to type on a keyboard.  Basically, you will be operating the keyboard in a hands-free mode.  Not only can this type of program transcribe your speech into letters or documents, but it can also be used as an alternative to the keyboard and the mouse to control the functions of your computer.  For instance, you could simply speak to your computer and have it bring up a word processing document or a spreadsheet, or even connect to the internet.

Because these types of speak to your computer programs are interactive, they must be trained before they are fully useable.  Unlike human beings who can decipher what other people say and even fill in the blanks of words not said, the computer is unable to do that.  It doesn’t have the intelligence to infer or understand when words are repeated or tripped over.  It has to become used to your voice and the patterns you use as you put words together into sentences.

One may wonder how this training is accomplished.  Actually, it is quite simple, although some people find it to be a bit tedious.  The software is programmed with text that it has already analyzed, such as popular novels.  As you read the text of these novels, your computer software compares your pronunciations with the patterns that are stored in its memory.  You speak to your computer through a microphone as you read the exercises and the computer creates a voice file that is phonetically divided into the way you speak.  These patterns can eventually be pulled into new words that you have not vocalized previously.

Using voice recognition as you speak to your computer takes a little more thought than simply speaking to a person.  You have to help it understand that you have come to the end or a sentence or paragraph.  Many simply commands have been programmed into the software to make it easier for you.  Sometimes a microphone will be included with the software because it is important that you have one that is high enough quality to actually allow the program to function properly.  If you are ready to speak to your computer and have it speak back to you, then you need to look into these types of programs that are available.