Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 13

I was very hesitant to spend the money to update my Dragon NaturallySpeaking application from version 12 version 13. I know I was just being hesitant because I didn't want to spend the money but when I read that the new application would work on my laptops built in microphone I thought that would be a great benefit for when I'm on the road need to make quick notes and update a lot of the documentation for customer visits and service situations.

So, I went ahead and bit the bullet and shelled out the cash to acquire the new version of the software. I am really impressed with how well that it is working off the microphone that is built into my Microsoft SurfaceBook 4. I have written this entire article utilizing this configuration with minimal issues. The old version 12 not work in my Windows Live Writer application directly. I had to open a dictation box and then transfer whatever I wrote from the dictation box to the program using the transfer. While that was not too inconvenient, it is much easier to be able to have it type directly into my application instead.

Another application that I was hoping you work better with was our ConnectWise application. It still doesn't work in the application but it does bring up the dictation box automatically and allow for quick transfer of the text you want to put into the application where the cursor position. Quick and easy especially since I don't have to start the dictation box myself.

For some reason the old version 12 application stop working with Microsoft Office 2016 and I had to use the dictation box as well. I'm sure this was part of the reason why figured I needed to upgrade to the version of the software. Now both work within the Office 2016 applications so I'm very happy with that result as well.

I will have to report back on other things that I find that are different in the new application but I do feel was a well spent $79 to get these capabilities. I feel that it will be a great timesaver for me in the long run. Isn't that what it's all about?

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Windows 10 Speech Recognition

If you put past articles that have written, you’ll see that I have many different postings talking about speech recognition and used on either a computer or mobile device.  When I write about the speech recognition program I like to use the program itself to write the article which helps to test how well the program works.

In this case are done the same thing and I am writing the article using Microsoft Windows 10’s Speech Recognition application.  I will only run through the initial training session to give the system of brief analysis of my voice characteristics.  While with some programs like Dragon Naturally Speaking, this is sometimes sufficient to give an accurate response, I think Microsoft’s product will need multiple sessions to get to the same level of recognition capabilities that some of these better programs offer.

The basic control commands all seemed to work well and it may be that some of my issues are that I’m also using a new blue tooth headset that might not be transmitting as clear as I would hope.  I probably should listen to my voice in conjunction with what the system was typing out.  However, I do not see that as an option.

All in all, I find that the program is working sufficiently to use it but it does seem to get lost every so often and I have to bring the system back to the program started up again.  This is a frustrating issue but quick on the screen bring everything back to life.  My suggestion is to run multiple training sessions to increase the accuracy of the system so that you have a lower threshold of frustration when you begin using it.

PR: Nuance Dragon Assistant for Intel® RealSense™ Technology

Press Release

I always love the thought of having a conversation with my computer and having it respond with meaningful information just like it was portrayed on Star Trek. I already use Nuance’s Naturally Speaking for a lot of my long winded typing so taking it to the next step and having either complete control over computer functions or asking a series of questions and have the computer understand the direction of the questions that have been posed to the computer just like you would expect from a normal interaction between individuals. 

The current release of the “next-generation Dragon Assistant designed for Intel® RealSense™ technology”, was announce by Nuance Communications, Inc. and is available on Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo 2 in 1, tablet, Ultrabook, notebook and AIO devices and will also be available on ASUS and Toshiba in early 2014.

Dragon Assistant, which comes with two selectable personalities (American Female and British Butler), lets you have an ongoing dialogue with your Intel-powered 2 in 1, tablet, Ultrabook, notebook, and all-in-one devices. Simply tell it to play music, get answers, connect with friends and find content – all by using your voice. Dragon Assistant even lets you check your calendar, get maps and directions, find flights or book a dinner reservation. Also available offline, people can play music from their hard drive, control their device, dictate notes and more without an internet connection.

“Our vision with Intel RealSense technology is to make computing more immersive and enable human-like natural interaction,” said Mooly Eden, senior vice president, general manager Perceptual Computing, Intel. “Intel has worked closely with Nuance at the system level for Intel-based devices; to create a leading voice solution that understands how humans speak, and searches like humans search, rather than forcing us to learn new commands to communicate with our devices.”

To learn more and see what Dragon Assistant can do, visit www.nuance.com/dragon/dragon-assistant/.

To read the entire press release click here!

Good demonstration of Dragon Medical and Allscripts Myway Medical EHR

Windows 7 and Speech Recognition

I thought I had a pretty decent headset and I'm using it with Windows Live Writer and it seems to work OK.  I'm using a Plantronics headset that that has a USB connection. I probably should train the windows speech recognition software several different times to make sure that it has a good sense of my voice to work with. I seem to be spending a lot of time correcting misrecognized words as I am speaking initially.  I'm wondering if there's too much hiss or if I don't have the microphone placed just exactly right.  Well, as in all projects they seem to be ongoing, and ongoing.  I was hoping that I would be able to speak at a normal speed it not have two very carefully enunciated each and every word but if I do slowed down what I am saying it has quite a bit more accuracy.  So, that is obviously the best way to work with it.  You need to speak up slow down your speech and concentrate on not slurring your words and pronouncing them clearly. As I've made some slight adjustments in the way I am speaking to the speech recognition software, the accuracy has increased considerably.  I'm having to make fewer and fewer changes and I am beginning to speed up slightly and still maintain the accuracy as long as I work on enunciating my words as clearly as I can.  So much for this test you can see the accuracy has turned up pretty well.  I still like the fact that windows still has included the speech recognition software right in the operating system so that it can be used in all windows based applications.

Windows 7 – Connecting to the Home Network

I did not have any problems getting connected to my Home Network which consists of several Windows Vista machines.  Without loading and the software was able to directly connect to the NAS drive on the network and access all of the picture files I have stored there.  Very slick and simple, I like when it is that easy.

I have also set up speech recognition using a USB headset and that seems to be working out fairly well.  Of course of the speech recognition has to be trained but out of the gate you can see by this blog entry it seems to be working fairly well.  Of course you can't see how many corrections I might have had to make, but they were far and few between. We'll have to see if it gets better as time goes by.  I was hoping that there would be a big difference but there doesn't seem to be at this time.  I guess Microsoft had their hands full with the operating system and didn't spend much time updating speech recognition this time around.  It is still a decent program, and for free what can you expect?