She was part of the team that launched TechRepublic. Image 1 of Previous Next. There are two ways to use speech recognition technology: To control the software start and close programs and switch between them, save and delete files, and so forth. To dictate text to be typed verbatim into a document and edit the text. Developers can use the Vista speech APIs to add speech recognition capabilities to any application.
However, Vista's speech recognition doesn't currently work with all languages. It's available in English both U. Vista speech recognition is set up and configured through the Control Panel. The Speech control console When you click Start Speech Recognition, the Speech control console will appear at the top of your screen.
Speech options context menu You can select Speech options by right-clicking on the microphone icon, either on the control console or in the system tray, to display this context menu. Adjusting the volume You must speak into the microphone so Windows can automatically adjust the volume. Training the speech engine Training the speech engine to recognize your own way of pronouncing words will improve accuracy.
Asking for help You can ask how to do a task and Windows will display Help files that match your question. Fixing mistakes Correcting mistakes is easy; you can pick from a list of possible replacements. Spelling it out If the correct word isn't in the list, just say, "Spell it. Advanced configuration settings Click the Advanced Speech Options link in the left pane of the Speech Recognition Options dialog box to access these settings.
Training process involves reading a series of text selections, one screen at a time, as shown in Figure G. Now you're ready to use voice commands to perform tasks on your computer. The speech engine is typically much more accurate at recognizing commands than dictation, because it's listening for only a limited number of commands. First, be sure the Speech console shows the speech status as Listening. Voice commands are designed to be as intuitive as possible.
For example, to open a program from the Start menu:. Simple commands are easy to use. Navigating around in some programs can be a little more challenging, but you can, for example, tab to the next option by saying "Tab. What do you do if you want to click a button or link for which you don't know the name, such as the Office logo button at the top-left corner of Word? Here's a nifty trick: just say, "Show numbers," and all interactive elements in the active window will be overlaid with numbers, as shown in Figure H.
Now all you have to do is say the number of the button you want to click. An OK box will appear on that element. Say, "OK," and you've clicked the button. If you don't know how to do something, you can use Help in English only by asking, "How do I" followed by the task you want to perform. For example, you might ask, "How do I turn on speech recognition? You can dictate text into any speech-enabled application.
You are not limited to Microsoft Office applications as you were in the past. For example, you can dictate into Notepad or WordPad. You can also dictate into the Windows Live Writer blogger application. I was not able to dictate into Open Office Writer and other non-Microsoft programs by default, but when I selected Options Enable Dictation Everywhere from the Speech context menu, which is used to dictate text into programs that don't automatically accept dictation, I was able to dictate to the Open Office program.
However, it didn't work as well as with Microsoft programs. Instead of immediately typing the text I spoke, it would pop up a number of alternatives for me to choose from. With the Speech APIs, developers can make their applications speech-enabled and many more probably will in the future.
When you're dictating, Vista will type everything you say into the document. It can be a little disconcerting if, while working on a document, you stop to talk to a colleague and then find your end of the conversation transcribed into the document. After a while, it becomes second nature to tell Vista, "Stop listening" when you want to say something you don't want transcribed.
It's likely that Vista will make mistakes when transcribing your dictation. The good news is that they're easy to correct. For example, if you say, "I need another byte" and Vista types "I need another bite," you can just say, "Correct bite," and you'll be presented with a list of replacement words, as shown in Figure J.
If the correct word isn't in the list, just say, "Spell it. You can access several advanced configuration settings by clicking the Advanced Speech Options link in the left pane of the Speech Recognition Options dialog box, as shown in Figure L. Here, you can create and train speech recognition profiles.
This is useful when more than one person shares the computer. You can also choose whether to run speech recognition at startup and whether to allow the computer to review your documents and mail to improve the accuracy of the speech recognition engine. In addition, you can select the number of spaces to insert after punctuation marks and adjust the microphone level.
I was impressed with the ease of use and accuracy of the Vista speech recognition engine after half an hour of training time. I've tried dictation programs before and never found them at all usable; I could always type much faster than I could dictate and correct text. Now I finally feel that if I should ever lose the use of my hands, there would still be a way for me to continue to get my work done. For me, a combination of speech recognition primarily for commands and keyboard input works well.
I can't vouch for how fast it works on a less powerful computer. I'm also using a headset microphone. As I mentioned, my experiences shows that a desktop microphone doesn't work nearly as well. Putting in some time training it to your own voice also makes a big difference. For obvious reasons, speech recognition wouldn't work well in a noisy environment where you share an office with other people who are talking or on the phone while you work, nor would it work well if you like to listen to music or talk radio while you work.
Before you decide to start talking to your computer all the time, be aware that there's a security issue involved with using speech recognition. George Ou went into detail about it in his blog. Here's the gist: An attacker could embed a sound file that plays automatically when you go to a Web page or send you a sound file in e-mail that plays when you double-click on it. If the sound file that plays through your computer speakers is a command recognized by Vista's Speech engine, and the speech recognition feature is running, the computer will carry out the command.
This isn't quite as scary as it could be. To perform most administrative tasks in Vista, you have to respond to the User Account Control prompt, which can't be done by voice.
However, it's possible for the attacker to delete a file on your computer using this method. When speech recognition is in Sleep mode, it responds only to the words "Start listening"--but the attacker could easily put that phrase at the beginning of the sound file to turn it on. Thus, the best practice is to always turn speech recognition off completely when you aren't using it, rather than leaving it in Sleep mode, and don't configure it to run when you start Windows.
Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MCSE, MVP is a technology consultant, trainer, and writer who has authored a number of books on computer operating systems, networking, and security. Deb is a tech editor, developmental editor, and contributor to over 20 add Figure A Vista speech recognition is set up and configured through the Control Panel. How it works There are two ways to use speech recognition technology: To control the software: Start and close programs and switch between them, save and delete files, and so forth.
To dictate text to be typed verbatim into a document and edit the text.
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