What is Voice Recognition

Voice recognition is software that runs on your computer which allows the words that you speak to be converted into text. In addition the sofware has a range of voice commands that allows you to control your computer with your voice, starting programmes, browsing the web sending emails etc. As a means of enabling control this is now a realistic option for those who have good speaking voices. The systems take time to "train" to recognise the speaker, but with practice it is possible to work at the speed of a good typist. More recently these systems have become much more affordable - a full list of options is described in the AbilityNet factsheet "Voice Recognition Systems".

Example of a Voice Recognition user

Accessing the web using voice recognition

In an article for Dyslexic.com, entitled,'My Journey with Speech Recognition Software', Charles J.R. Williams writes about his early experiences using speech recognition with a congenital muscular condition (www.dyslexic.com).

Voice Recognition Demo		Using EasyYouTube with Voice Recognition
Voice recognition in the Opera browser		Also have a look at headsets and microphones . . .

Dragon Naturally Speaking >

Vista Voice Recognition >

Voice recognition on the Apple Mac >

Voice recognition and languages

Espanol		Deutsch
Italiano		Nederland

Other voice recognition programs

• Simon Open Source Voice Recognition
  
  

  ... is an open-source speech recognition program and replaces the mouse and keyboard. ... is designed to be very flexible and allows customization for any application where speech recognition is needed. ... is a potential European project of "e-inclusion" because of the language-independent programming. ... is in development for physically disabled people to give them the possibility to chat, to write e-mails, to surf the internet, to do internet-banking and much more. More information about Simon . . .

  
  
  
• MultiSpeak - Voice recognition for meetings. Multi-Speaksoftware package is designed to take transcriptions of multi-person meetings easily and accurately, all by just using your voice. Designed for use during meetings, conferences, court reporting, interviewing and more,Multi-Speakcan instantly capture and transcribe speech from up to four speakers at a time, even when they are speaking simultaneously.Multi-Speak outputs entire transcriptions as your meeting continues, ready for revision and correction, complete with the original audio data at the meeting’s completion. Your files can be saved anywhere on a network, making it easy for a third party to editMulti-Speak’stranscriptions. Multi-Speak is apparently the only multi-voice speech recognition software on the market, and already major companies and government departments from around the world are using it.
  
  Example: The Isle of Man Parliament has just installed a second system, after experimenting since April 2008. Each member was asked to record a five minute pre-recorded passage. The resulting voice profile was then improved using the corrected audio from each session to adapt its' accoustic and language elements. Each speaker has a separate microphone and as he/she stands up to speak, the chamber editor uses a touch screen to switch in the correct voice profile, which is then automatically transcribed. There is a small team of editors in another office, correcting text as it appears on their screens. Colour coding indentifies each speaker and 'utterances' are date and time stamped.
  
  More information about Multi-Speak . . .
  
  
• Tazti. Free download. Navigate Facebook & Myspace. Control iTunes player. Search Google, YouTube, etc. Create speech commands. Manage bookmarks. Surf the internet.
  
  Users can control the iTunes player (by Apple) if it's installed on their PC, change tracks, adjust volume, search or spellsearch itunes music store and perform 30 other functions by speaking to their PC and much more. More information about Tazti's capabilities . . .
  
  

  Tazti - English demo

  Using Tazti with German search engines

  
  
  
• SpeechMagic. Voice recognition system by Philips for the healthcare sector. Enables dictation, recognition and correction at any location within a LAN, WAN, across the Internet or in a Terminal Server/Citrix environment. More information about SpeechMagic . . .
  
  
• Voice Pro 11. Based on the latest in IBM ViaVoice technology. Only available in the german language. Apparently requires no speech training - just go ahead and dictate.
  Video presentation . . .
  
  More information about Voice Pro . . .
  
  
• e-Speaking. An easy software solution to enable you to control your computer, dictate emails and letters, and have the computer read documents back to you. Runs in Windows2000 and WindowsXP. Free download and 30day trial. More information about e-Speaking . . .
  
  e-Speaking demo videos . . .
  

Voice recognition resources

• Hands-Free Computing
• BDF Solutions
  
• Freedom of Speech
• VoicePower
• T & T Consultancy
• T & T Consultancy Australia