Author Topic: Voice-activated software  (Read 5317 times)

Offline sandbox

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« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2007, 10:14:31 PM »
Hey Loraine, the Mac Help files will work in Finder, which is where the Mic option resides. Once your into ViaVoice with the program open, there should be "application help files" installed that will help along the way.

My neighbor uses a Andrea 750 headset which seem to be comfortable and accurate. Much depends on the quality of sound going in, as you will discover, so I'm glad you have a good headset to work with.

Let us know how it goes! hi.gif



Offline LR827

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« Reply #16 on: September 24, 2007, 08:20:49 AM »
QUOTE(sandbox @ Sep 23 2007, 10:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hey Loraine, the Mac Help files will work in Finder, which is where the Mic option resides. Once your into ViaVoice with the program open, there should be "application help files" installed that will help along the way.

My neighbor uses a Andrea 750 headset which seem to be comfortable and accurate. Much depends on the quality of sound going in, as you will discover, so I'm glad you have a good headset to work with.

Let us know how it goes! hi.gif



I don't recall seeing an option for help after opening the V V program ... But I did finally go through the generic Mac Help in Finder, where I found the answer. Once I changed the sound input to "USB connection" it worked great. We are really happy with it now, except for the usual complaints about voice-activation software, that is, it misinterprets your speech unless you articulate very carefully.

I was at a conference where several of the guys were discussing v-a software, and they were speaking to each other like, "HOW ... IS ... YOUR ... PRAH - JECT ... GOING ... LATE-LEE... JON- AH - THUN?"  

They were mocking the way you learn to speak into the computer.

It was pretty funny. Well, may ... bee ... yooo ... had ... tooo ... beee ... there.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2007, 08:21:13 AM by LR827 »

Offline sandbox

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« Reply #17 on: September 24, 2007, 11:51:09 AM »
Lorraine, I jump to the conclusion that ViaVoice would have come with help-files as Dragon Naturally Speaking and iListen do, the two programs that I use.
http://www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking/
http://www.macspeech.com/

Here's a review that demonstrates some difference and nuance.
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/more/c...peech_software/

Yes, at first, before it learns your voice and vocabulary voice recognition software is slow, but as you train it, it improves markedly, especially if you have a Good Mic. That's why I emphasized how important it is to use the best you could afford. Over time, even without a headset, you'll do voice commands just using the Mac's built in Mic, the program will know your voice and the common words, repetitive words, and the process gets much easier. At least that's been my experience with my software.
I built an apple script years ago to switch the input device from my Parrot headphone to internal Mic so that I could use either or.. on voice command or with keystroke.

Have fun, Scotty Out.
Computer....Add Reply....
« Last Edit: September 24, 2007, 11:52:03 AM by sandbox »

Offline Mayo

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« Reply #18 on: September 24, 2007, 06:37:00 PM »
David Pogue is a big fan of Dragon Naturally Speaking. I recall reading somewhere that David developed carpal tunnel syndrome from all the typing that he did and that he now dictates everything using his PC.

I'm going to look into this some more in anticipation of my acquisition of a new Intel Mac...

Offline sandbox

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« Reply #19 on: September 24, 2007, 11:44:23 PM »
Mayo, I like Dragon on the Windows side, and I have the best one they offered which at the time was called Mobility. It came with a headset and voice recorder. The recorder was not very good. I would suggest if your really serious about VRS to buy an DS- Olympus 2300.
We hang with a few doctors and lawyers that depend on these things and they use different variations of this recorder.

What I like about Dragon is it's Legal and Medical language packs, and the ability to add new medical terminology as it is created. Friends at the Bio Lab at USF use a Bio Pack for their marine projects.

Don't let anyone fool you, there is a learning curve, it's far better than it was when I started in OS8.6, but it's there none the less. The software needs to understand your voice, cadence, tone, rhythm and pronunciation.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2007, 11:47:29 PM by sandbox »

Offline Mayo

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« Reply #20 on: September 25, 2007, 01:55:46 AM »
SB, Pogue isn't just dictating something for later transcription... I think that he dictates and his word processing program types it as he speaks. At least that is how I understand it. The Pogue link that I provided in my last post points to an article he wrote about using the software.

The idea is appealing to me because I wouldn't mind avoiding typing if at all possible...   whistling.gif

When I was a paralegal I did a LOT of dictation, but we used the larger office recorders common in the late 1970s.  It sure was sweet having someone to do all my typing for me!

Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #21 on: September 25, 2007, 09:13:29 AM »
Reading the latest TidBIT newsletter, I remembered this thread. The article covers the other side of computer/human communications: Text to Voice. The article speaks (no pun intended) about a set of voices available from Infovox iVox. Their web site has several samples demonstrating the higher quality than the standard Mac voices. Rumor says Leopard will have an enhanced voice called "Alex" but it might be good to have more than one choice, even if it costs more.
QUOTE("Tidbits #897")
Through 31-Oct-07, the American and
British English voices cost $99 (normally $149 and $219), the
non-Scandinavian voices cost $149 (normally $219), and the
Scandinavian languages cost $269 (normally $359, but you get the
Swedish Chef for free... just kidding).



THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes:

Offline sandbox

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« Reply #22 on: September 25, 2007, 09:43:28 AM »
Your right Mayo, he uses it exactly as we do, we speak... it types, then you run it through the editing process and your done. We use to use Appleworks, now we speak to Word mostly, but can speak to Entourage, for email.

Using iListen you can speak to any application, ViaVoice, for example works best on it's own notepad. The problem with that is once you have what you want, you need to move it, then reformat the page.

No doubt Dragon is a very good program, and its price is reflective of that fact. For Macs, the cost is prohibitive to most consumers, upwards of $900.00

Here's a few links to add to your collection.
http://www.macspeech.com/support/index.php...&article=61

http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/il16.shtml



QUOTE(Mayo @ Sep 25 2007, 02:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
SB, Pogue isn't just dictating something for later transcription... I think that he dictates and his word processing program types it as he speaks. At least that is how I understand it. The Pogue link that I provided in my last post points to an article he wrote about using the software.

The idea is appealing to me because I wouldn't mind avoiding typing if at all possible...   whistling.gif

When I was a paralegal I did a LOT of dictation, but we used the larger office recorders common in the late 1970s.  It sure was sweet having someone to do all my typing for me!
« Last Edit: September 25, 2007, 09:44:49 AM by sandbox »

Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #23 on: September 25, 2007, 12:15:54 PM »
You may be able to search TS for a mini review or at least some info on iListen. We had a demo by a company rep last year at our MUG. Of course, the software worked perfectly for him since he'd been using it and it had 'learned' his voice very well. That's the 'learning curve' mentioned above. It takes some time but the software seems stable and highly usable. They also have voice packs for medical, legal and other professions, if needed.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes: