BOOT CAMP 524 (13/05/08)
Windows Vista Voice Recognition, part 1
’Open
Internet Explorer, Show Numbers, 23, OK, Speech Recognition, Show Numbers, 51,
OK’. The actual numbers may vary but if you say that to a trained Vista PC you
should see an interesting Wikipedia article on
how computers have learned to understand speech.
Voice
or speech recognition (SR) has been the Holy Grail of computing since the year
dot. The best systems can achieve near human standards of comprehension and
reliability; high-performance SR programs have been around for several years
but it’s never really caught on amongst mainstream computer users. Part of the
reason has been the cost. Good quality SR software can be quite pricey, then
there’s the time and effort involved in teaching a program to recognise the
user’s voice and this can be a tedious and long-winded process. Even when a SR
program has been fully configured you can still end up wasting a
disproportionate amount of time correcting mistakes and undoing unexpected
actions.
But
maybe it’s time to take another look; one of Windows Vista’s less well-known
features is a built-in speech recognition system and I have to say that it is
really rather good! Microsoft hasn’t
made any significant breakthroughs in SR technology in fact the system it uses
is fairly average by current standards, but it does have a head start over most
of its rivals. To begin with it is included with Vista, so it’s effectively
free and it is reasonably well integrated with Windows.
Microsoft
is careful not to tout speech recognition solely as an accessibility aid and I
caution anyone who has difficulty using a mouse or keyboard not to raise their
hopes too high. The MS website blurb claims it is ‘for people who want to
significantly limit their use of the mouse and keyboard while maintaining their
overall productivity’. That’s a tad optimistic to say the least but it really
is possible to control a Vista PC and most Windows programs entirely by voice
commands. However, you should be aware that it takes a lot of practice,
superhuman patience and the serenity of a Buddhist monk….
Over
the years I have tested countless SR packages and they all have one thing in
common, an inability to deal with anger, frustration and sarcasm, or understand
swear words. During the training sessions you tend to be reasonably calm and
collected and speak clearly, consequently the success rate can be quite high.
But when things go wrong your voice changes, sometimes only subtly but the
errors increase, which makes you even angrier and less intelligible, with
predictable consequences.
Another
less obvious failing of SR technology is that it can only function in a
reasonably quiet environment, which may be difficult to achieve in the average
home or office. It also means you have to avoid coughing, sneezing or wheezing,
muttering to yourself, and remember to disable the program or mute the
microphone when the phone rings.
Nevertheless,
under ideal conditions and with calmness of spirit and surroundings speech
recognition is well worth investigating. If you follow the instructions you
should be able to open and close programs, surf the web and compose documents
and emails. Whether you will be sufficiently convinced to want to stop using
your keyboard and mouse is another matter but it’s an interesting exercise, and
quite impressive when it works properly, so lets get started.
After
plugging in your microphone (see this week’s Top Tip) the first job is to set
the sound input level. We’ll deal with training and using the program next
week. There are two ways to open Windows Speech Recognition; the traditional
method is to go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Ease of Access
> Windows Speech Recognition and double click. But this is Vista and you
should be making use of the excellent Search facility, so in the Search box on
the Start menu start typing ‘speech’ and after the second or third letter
Windows Speech Recognition should appear on the list. Double click on it and
the SR control panel opens. You can move this anywhere on the desktop, or dock
it to the top or bottom edges of the screen.
Right
click on the panel and the main menu appears, select Configuration > Configure
my microphone. And select your microphone type from the list. Click Next then
Next again and read aloud the tongue-twisting test phrase. If Vista is happy
with it click Next to exit the setup wizard. If for any reason the mike test
fails check that it’s plugged into the correct socket. Otherwise make sure that
it hasn’t been muted, or the level is set too low by double-clicking the
speaker icon in the System Tray (next to the clock). Select the Microphone tab
and adjust the slider. If you still can’t get it to work try another
microphone.
Next Week – Windows Vista
Voice Recognition, part 2
JARGON FILTER
ACCESSIBILITY AIDS
Special features in Windows designed to assist users with a wide
range of physical impairments and learning difficulties
SOUND INPUT LEVEL
Sensitivity control for a microphone connected to (or built into)
a computer or laptop
VISTA SEARCH
Powerful and
constantly indexed facility for finding programs, data, documents, images and
files stored on a PC
TOP TIP
Apart
from a PC running Windows Vista the only other thing you are going to need is a
microphone. Most laptops have a built-in mike but they are rarely much good for
this type of application, being too far from the user’s mouth. Increasing the
input level simply makes them more responsive to ambient noise and hard drive
motor whine. They do work but a proper desktop microphone is much better but
far and away the best option is a headset mike, which allows the sensitivity to
be reduced to a minimum.
Don't forget, there's a
full archive of previous Boot Camp Top Tips at www.pctoptips.co.uk
---end---
© R. Maybury 2008, 0904
Part 2
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