[Hidden-tech] Opinions: Voice Recognition Software and Jott

[Richard Resnick]

In reaction to Mark Firehammer,

It's great that things work so well for him. Like I mentioned, a very small
subset of the population has success with Dragon.

However, the list of 4 best practices Mark mentioned are all out-of-the-box
obvious tips that any novice Dragon user learns immediately through the
manuals and their very first interactions with the software. It's step 1.
But it doesn't just work for most people.

In the experience of my girlfriend, who like I said doesn't use Dragon to
type quickly, but because she can't use her arms to type and depends on
using a computer for her livelihood, she has obviously invested enormous
energy evolving a set of best practices. This is her number one issue, with
which she grapples every day. She has hired consultants, gone to speech
therapists, brought in audio experts, used third party tools, tried eastern
medicine, meditation, nutrition, doctors, and prayer. She is totally hooked
into the voice recognition industry and recently has even given a talk
directly with the lead developer and inventor of NatSpeak. (Incidentally,
during HIS talk, he gave a demo and had about a 10% misrecognition rate.)

So there are obviously different opinions and experiences.

But I caution this group to be careful to use words like "of course [the
group that gives up] blames the technology." For some of us this is a chance
to speed up our typing input. But for others, this stuff is about serious
issues - like disabled people's ability to make livings.

Let's be mindful of this.

Richard

On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 4:23 PM, Mark Firehammer <mark at adeptco.net> wrote:

>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>
>
>
>  Hi Dan,
>
> I've been using Dragon Nat Speak since version 4 in 2001.  I too never
> learned to type well.  Voice recognition has been a tremendous productivity
> boon for me.  I even use a dragon certified portable digital recorder which
> I dictate into while driving to optimize use of that time.  Once I get back
> to the office, that audio file is translated into text for me.
>
> I have introduced and trained at least a dozen people to use Dragon.
> Half of them continue to use it years later, and the other half gave up
> early on.
> The difference between the two groups is that the continued users follow
> the rules, principles and guidelines that ensures success with voice
> recognition programs. The group that gives up doesn't follow the rules
> guidelines and principles and ultimately frustrated.  (Of course they blame
> the technology!)
>
> Continued success with voice recognition is a combination of 4 things,
>
>    1. Learn to speak the way you need to speak to a computer for it to
>    understand you.  I tell people to learn to speak like a newscaster, flat and
>    steady always in full sentences.
>    2. Correct the software when it makes a specific mistake and it will
>    not make the same mistake again.
>    3. Frequently optimize your audio settings to ensure proper sound
>    levels required for good recognition.  (I do this a couple times a week.  It
>    only takes a minute)
>    4. Spend at least 30 minutes initially training the program to
>    recognize your speech accurately.  Also allow the program to analyze your
>    writing style by telling it to go through documents that you've written.
>
> Make a habit of those four things, and you will never regret moving to
> voice recognition!  By the way this entire e-mail was dictated with Dragon
> NaturallySpeaking version number 9, using a dragon certified Bluetooth
> microphone from Blue Parrot.
>
> It took approximately 90 seconds to dictate, and spell-check found two
> typos before sending!  Good luck and happy dictating.
>
> Regards,
> Mark Firehammer
>
> *Adeptco has become:*
>  *Mark Firehammer*
> *413 303 0315*
> *SkypeID:  *Compatikey
> *Website:* http://techeffective.net
> *Facebook: *Profile<http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1209428263&ref=profile>
> *Links:*
> Free Support <http://techeffective.net/free_support.htm>
> Remote Support <http://techeffective.net/remote_support2.htm>
>
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:
> hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] *On Behalf Of *Dan Kirsch
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 22, 2009 5:32 PM
> *To:* hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> *Subject:* [Hidden-tech] Opinions: Voice Recognition Software and Jott
>
>  Friends -
>
> I just got a promo for Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 and it got me seriously
> thinking about making the investment.  So I'm interested in hearing list
> members' opinions and experiences with the variety and quality of voice
> recognition software options out there today.  I've never used one, but my
> image of them is slow and buggy with a long learning curve to get to a
> decent level of functionality vs my pitiful typing.
>
> Also, I'm curious if anyone is using Jott http://jott.com and what that
> experience has been like.
>
> Thanks
>
> Dan
> --
> Dan Kirsch
> KirschLeuchs Consulting
> Florence, MA
> 413.221.9521
> dan at kirschleuchs.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net
> Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
>
> You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion list.
> If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members
> page on the Hidden Tech Web site.
> http://www.hidden-tech.net/members
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.hidden-tech.net/pipermail/hidden-discuss/attachments/20090124/0ff375b2/attachment-0001.htm