I can't believe we're still typing. What ever happened to voice recognition software?

[kayakjohnny]

We should all be speaking into mics right now, shouldn't we? We're still spending all this time on the k-boards and spell-checking and all this ancient technology from the 30's.

I still don't have voice recongish, and I still don't have my jetpack. And I'm getting a little preturbed. Can someone please speed things up a bit, before I die and don't get to use it? The clock is ticking here.

Thanks in advance.

[MrScorpio]

1. I could use mine

But I don't feel like talking to my computer... it's a poor conversationalist

[kayakjohnny]

2. Oh. Hadn't thought of that.

[AngryAmish]

3. Dragon Naturally Speaking

it works

look it up

[kayakjohnny]

5. Do you use it? Or is it good only in certain situations?

Heard of it, but nothing seems widespread at the mome.

[AngryAmish]

7. I use it.

You can change things later via voice. It is easier to do it by hand though.

All in all, I give it a 7 of 10.

[ashling]

29. I use it, too

in fact, I am replying to this message with it.

Works pretty good... some problems, but then, you learn to work around them.

It comes in handy for getting down long quotes from journals and other source material for my graduate papers in history/Government. Works well with MS office or in its own box.

[Deja Q]

6. Not compatible with 64-bit Vista

Of course, Vista's speech recognition does work... (though if Dragon's is any better...)

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. "Be like the boy! Be like the boy!"

"We like Roy! We like Roy!"

-The Simpsons

[ghostsofgiants]

14. "Beat up Martin."

"Eat up Martha."

-Nelson's (or maybe Kearny's or Jimbo's) Newton.

(Yeah, not voice recognition but same idea.)

[Ptah]

8. Could be much worse.

[crispini]

9. As someone said upthread, look into Dragon.

It's pretty good, but mostly useful for typing. I think you'll find you actually spend a lot less time on the computer typing than you think.

[SoxFan]

10. Because of things like this

The above prrrt captioned action is brought PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Pippy get off the keyboard pursuant to the provisions of RSA 265:A MEOW MEOW Brianna, there's food in your dish MEOW MEOW

[malta blue]

11. we were SCREWN

:)

[Iggo]

12. Turns out typing is quieter.

For eaxample: Some of the things...no, ALMOST ALL of the things I type at this website I type from my desk at work or my desk at home. I can type whatever I want to whenever I want to. But at certain and many times of the day I cannot say out loud what I want to when I want to.

[LisaL]

26. Well dah.

I don't want to talk to my computer. It is bad enough when I have to make a phone call and there is voice recognition software on the other hand demanding answers and then saying "sorry I didn't quite get it."

[MsKandice01]

13. As a court reporting student, I say...

DOWN with voice recognition software!!

[buzzycrumbhunger]

15. VR sucks

As a medical transcriptionist, I can attest to this personally. Even worse than sucking, companies are pretending it doesn't, running dications through it anyway and paying us a fourth as much to "edit" it--which means we get to pretty much type from scratch much of the time, but at slave wages for what is often more work.

Next time you ask to see your medical record and it says you're allergic to cell phone, they've found foot particles in your lungs, or that your bowel movements have been more lucid, you'll know who to blame. The only thing worse has been offshore workers who, even if they have a grasp of basic English or even the medical terminology, don't grok the idiomatic shit. Because hospitals only care about the cost anymore, this is acceptable--and we're finding ourselves out of work if we aren't willing to compete with people who find $4/week a living wage. :eyes:

So yeah. Much as I love my Star Trek, don't get me started on SR until I'm safely into another field.

[kayakjohnny]

16. Damn, that was a funny and well-written post. And some of it, not so damn funny.

I'm sure lots of prominent folks interested in fixing the system, would love to hear from someone like you.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

24. Nope, they don't

VR/SR is designed by software guys who don't actually use it. It's sold to people who also don't use it and have no clue that the salesmen are feeding them a line of bull. "Gee, it a computer that types what you say? That sounds terrific--and CHEAP!" There's been a lot of talk in my field about why no one asks US how it could work and what features we'd like to see, but but not amongst the people designing it. I suspect that just sounds like too much work. Better to sell this crap and pretend it works because you can always upgrade it to something "better" when they start to catch on that things don't work quite as well as they were supposed to.

VR may eventually work fine for everyday English applications, but when you're talking technical stuff, I don't know that it will. As it is, in my field (I transcribe at the acute care/hospital level), we need to have pretty much the same fund of knowledge as a third-year medical student--anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, instruments, AND medical slang and basic English. That's just too much wiggle room for a VR engine to sort out, especially given that so many doctors dictate too fast, too quiet, in their armpits, in noisy nursing stations, on the turnpike, in the men's room, and on occasion, I've even got a guy who dictates on his cell phone outside the emergency room when the landscape crew is weedwhacking. It's crazy.

I do know some MTs who use Dragon to transcribe, but it's a convoluted process wherein they listen to the original dictation, repeat it so Dragon can understand it, and then proofread to make sure it got it all right. It's still a long process to train it to understand you, and you still have to edit for all kinds of "No, back up and delete that part" or "Go back up to the previous section" crap and other nonsense (ESL dictators can be crazy stupid, but the worst dictators are actually white guys who can't be bothered to open their mouths as they speak like a bullet train).

Being a keyboard whore doesn't pay what it used to. I have to say it's really depressing from my POV because what used to be a good living is now disappearing offshore and there are now kids making more at minimum wage at McDonald's than you can as a 30-year veteran in transcription. Add in the fact that these are OUR private health records and they're being transmitted with all kinds of information (incl. SSNs)--largely to India, but the Philippines and Pakistan are fighting for a share, too. Unless patients everywhere start raising hell with healthcare providers, it's not likely to change. I'm afraid legal and general transcriptionists are probably finding the same thing these days, too.

Gee. . . now I've ruined a perfectly silly thread with my ranting--and I'm supposed to be on vacation! :eyes:

[skygazer]

17. Actually my bowel movements have been more lucid

Maybe because I'm drinking less alcohol.... :P

[Wapsie B]

20. Gosh, hospitals wouldn't do that just to cut osts.

:sarcasm:

At least that's what their marketing departments would have you believe.

[pitohui]

18. well i type faster than i speak so voice recog. software would suck majorly for me

i suggest you just don't spell check and if a grammar nazi happens along IGNORE THEM

you have the right idea in a way -- discussion on an internet forum is a conversation, well in a conversation you don't use the same formal english you did in writing your dissertation or thesis, you just let it roll, right? and the fuckwit who wants to talk about spelling and grammar instead of the interesting stuff...you just ignore that fuckwit for what they are, right?

way quicker than waiting for your jetpack

[Critters2]

19. In third grade, they told us we'd have flying cars and domed cities by now.

I feel cheated.

[RandomThoughts]

21. I think I understand this.

Typing is about 100% accurate, so it is automatic, very little brain power is used when typing, so you can think about what you are saying, or more what you are typing.

Even with the need for only a few corrections, when using speech to text, you have to think and watch to see if it works, which makes you have to use parts of your brain that could be thinking about what you want to say.

Although if used enough, the correction mechanism for mistakes could be as automatic as backspace is when typing, but learning something new, when the old way still works, does not happen very often.

"It is not enough to just be a newer mousetrap, it has to be a better one also"

Oh, we still use the stupid 'QWERTY' keyboard layout, when we have known it is not the best for 80 years. Every attempt to find a new keyboard layout never took off, cause it was not enough better to require retraining of automated responses in peoples brains.

Thats my guess.

[DarkTirade]

22. I much prefer typing, actually.

I use too many strange and archaic words. :P

[backscatter712]

23. It's still not quite there yet.

Though there are products out there, we have yet to see the voice-recognition software that can distinguish between "two", "too" and "to" correctly every single time.

On top of that, talking to your computer isn't really a great way to communicate with it - in many cases, the keyboard and mouse works better. That goes doubly true if you're in a noisy room, or people around you want it quiet, or some smartass shouts "DELETE FILE" into your mike...

[quakerboy]

33. Granted, but

I have as yet to meet two many people out there that can properly choose between Two, Too, and To every time either...

[LisaL]

25. I would hate to use voice recognition software.

No thanks.

[ElboRuum]

27. Your answer...

(as dictated through voice recognition software).

Off in the foot your is difficult to per duct. Ad vents mints come own lein do time. Your jet pick wood be two in prat tickle to pimple meant. To much potent you'll four lie ability.

[ashling]

28. Dragon Naturally Speaking 10

I don't use it all the time, but there are lots of times it comes in handy.

[harmonicon]

30. why would you want it?

I like that I can be on the phone and the computer at the same time... other reasons too.... the keyboard is a good interface, I think.

[Withywindle]

31. Ugh, wouldn't want it!

I'm a much better writer than I am a talker, and a damn fast typist, if I say so myself. Besides, I don't want people "listening in" to what I "write" when they're around, and I don't want to talk to "myself" when I'm alone.

[jberryhill]

32. Never had any interest in it

People who think VR is a good idea are people who do not write well.