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voice recognition options?

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Posted 11/30/2006 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
hi there! I am checking to see if anyone has a recommendation for voice recognition software? A friend of mine has MS and has trouble typing so I thought this would be a great gift for her. Any suggestions?
Posted 11/30/2006 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Shello

Welcome to the board! It's really nice that u'r acting on behalf of u'r friend. I've used one called Dragon Naturally Speaking, but IBM has one that's called VIA Voice that is supposed to be equally as good or better. The experience i've had with Dragon Naturally Speaking is that it has to learn u'r way of speaking. So, for example, if u live in the south as i do and have a distinctive southern sound, u may have to give it a litte more time to learn from u, but once it's ready u'r good to go. We have another member here who's using a product like this and i believe she's doing ok with it. Maybe she'll be along and give her input soon. Best wishes to u and u'r friend. Please extend our invitation to her to visit us as well.

rhonda
Posted 11/30/2006 1:20 AM (GMT 0)

thank you so much for your reply and suggestions!

Ok, so I had thought there would have to be some type of 'training' for this kind of software since not everyone sounds the same, but is Dragon hard to use though? I am wondering how user friendly this type of software is. You mentioned another one the VIA Voice, have you ever used that before?

thank you for all your help! :)

Posted 11/30/2006 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Shello

Well the Dragon comes with a set of headphones/mic and some basic instruction, but it's pretty much on the job training from there. U really just follow the instructions and start to teach it u'r 'sound'. I've never used the Via Voice, but i've heard it's better than Dragon. To me the deciding factor was the price. Dragon was someplace around $150 whereas Via Voice was someplace around $600.!!! HUGE difference and well worth the time to work on it for me. However, for u'r friend cost may not be the best way to decide. The prices i'm giving are pretty old...somewhere around 4 yrs ago. U can go to imb.com and see what's there. Dragon had it's own site name as well... www.dragonnaturallyspeaking.com i think. For me, Dragon was pretty easy. I don't think i have that big of an accent so maybe that made a difference. It's pretty self explanitory too, so it should be almost an out of the box product.

rhonda
Posted 11/30/2006 3:34 AM (GMT 0)
Rhonda,

wow, that is a HUGE difference in price and since I haven't won the lotto yet, I may just try my cheaper options first LOL Ok, so I just did a quick search on Dragon and I found this site, http://www.nuance.com/ and they have what I guess is the newest version 9 for $99 and it says no training required and that it works straight out of the box. What version do you have?
Posted 11/30/2006 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Shello

I don't still have my copy, so i'm not sure what version i had. It was about 4 yrs ago, so prob much lower than 9. The one i had was pretty easy to make work...so i bet the one u looked at will be just as easy or better by now. Does the one u saw come with headphones and a mic? If not u'll need to get that to go with it. Be sure to get HEADPHONES tho. Speakers will give u lots of feedback and make it nearly impossible to make the software work.

rhonda
Posted 12/6/2006 7:31 AM (GMT 0)

Rhonda,

Yes, I looked this back up again and it does come w/ its own headphones and mic. I am just debating now whether or not to get the Standard version or the Preferred. I have a little more research to do I guess. At least it's not that expensive either way, the most I have seen the Preferred version is about $200 and the Standard is half of that. 

Posted 12/6/2006 7:00 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Shello

Good to see u again! It's good u'r weighing this so carefully. U said it's for u'r friend? Well be sure of what the specs are for her computer and what's required. That can mean the difference in the software running and working fine or it not even installing.

Yes, unfortunately, the different versions can jump in price! I've found that in selecting something that's as possibly critical as this, it's best to go with the product that offers the most. U may not need the bigger version now, but u may grow into that version and that'll mean u'll need to repurchase later or at least try to get un upgrade (some products don't offer upgrades..only way to get the bigger version is to repurchase). With some software the differences aren't too great, but if they are or if they have the potential to be helpful differences, it's prob worthwhile to just upgrade from the get go. All that said...price is a huge factor! I think it's great u'r doing this for u'r friend and i think she's got a wonderful friend to lean on. Best wishes to u both.

rhonda
Posted 12/7/2006 4:16 AM (GMT 0)

Rhonda,

Again I must say THANK YOU! I hadn't even thought about whether her computer could support such software! I will have to check tomorrow on that. Also, your reasoning on buying the Preferred over the Standard makes a lot of sense as well. As long as her computer will support it, I think I have made my decision and will go with Dragon, the Preferred edition. You are so very sweet to have helped me this much--it is very much appreciated!!! Thank you!

Posted 12/7/2006 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
  Dragon; i use it, i recommend it. Apparently, the headset is not impervious to the wheels of a wheelchair! It is a single-user software as the user has to 'train' the application to your specific voice. If you have a physio or any user to go over it with you, it will soon amaze you; it will learn the flucuations and (most) styles in your voice. Another person's voice would confuse it. Your 'writng' style will change as you speak what you wish to 'write'. The more you use it, the better it performs. Just hang the headset on a hook!

 

Posted 12/14/2006 2:37 AM (GMT 0)

Legend said...
  Just hang the headset on a hook!

LOL! Thanks for the advice! I'll make sure to inlcude that tip on the card :) I checked everything out and her sysyem will support Dragon so I am off to buy it for her this weekend!! I hope it will bring her a smile this Christmas! Thanks for all your help and advice!
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