posted on June 2, 2001 09:43:24 AM new
I live in a low rent apartment complex for the disabled/elderly and have been attempting to share my interest in computers with some of the older residents (everything is relative). I'm many days away from being 65 and the average age is 80.
One of the residents is confined to a wheel chair and has little use of his arms/hands. He has long been a minor, published author and attempts to continue to write.
He has been reduced to depend on dictating his work and the process and cost is not productive.
I've been asked if I would help him acquire a computer, learn to use it and install the voice activation program so he can make use of word processing.
It's a challange but I look forward to giving it a try.
Which program? After we choose a program the computer minimuns etc. will fall into place.
Who already invented this wheel so that we can learn from their progress?
I will reach out for help locally but any suggestions will be appreciated.
posted on June 2, 2001 09:58:26 AM new
I am not familar with voice activated commands, but there is software that will write spoken words on the PC. It isn't too expensive, some verions are $19.95. The software uses a neural program to "learn" the speech particulars of the user. It generally comes with a headset and attached microphone. I have the IBM version, but I have only toyed with. Commanding the PC through voice is a different animal, and I haven't tried that one yet.
If someone would set the application up for him, he could then dictate into the PC.
posted on June 2, 2001 10:13:50 AM new
Voice activation programs are no all that good and most are very costly I know a few people cofined to wheel chairs no use of legs or arms they tryed voice activation but the comunication many times turns out scrambled up.
the Quads I know use what they refer to as a stick designed for use in the mouth useing the neck motion they have to type.
They also make a stick that work with a band around the forehead
This take pratice but is more effective But the people I know are younger one is only now 22 and has been on the net since they were 17 injured in a swiming accident at 14.
and as they tell me good Teeth are required and untill your mouth toughens up if you go over board in time spent at the computer your mouth can and does get very sore to the point of bleeding.
But both have told me this beats voice 100X over as many quads also have a hard time talking and controling speech as well.
many times the voice activated typeing will look like this
sdgffdgkfr32435 like I saidfgdfhh I had a greafdgdfhh time it I finially had a GooFDGRKLL day .
The quads I know use IRC chat and even though it does take time and pratice to get the speed up typeing with the stick useing neck motion one of them Types and replys as fast and in many cases better then myself and others.
when they use there voice activation they are for ever apoligizeing for scambled unintended posts because voice activation some time pick up a sigh or cough it heres as the users voice pattern and trys to type it as well as scambleing do to try to converse like on the phone people tend to do a alot ya knows and umm hummmm and ehhhhh in normal speech.
I know this may not have been the words or help you were looking for but I have seen some of the latest high cost voice activated programs in use.
Typeing stick are a small investment take time but time spent at the computer and the pratice will pay off in good completed work.
posted on June 2, 2001 10:16:55 AM new
just a thought go to google and other search engines and do a search for as many componts realted to this as possible. should turn up lots of leads and maybee evan support groups related to this topic
Good luck
posted on June 2, 2001 11:11:20 AM new
We tried many of these programs before we found one that worked fantastically. The difference is that the software uses special hardware on the sound card, this is probably why it works so well, you have to have the sound card and the software.
One note, it claims you only need a Pentium 200, I could not get it to work reliably on anything less than a 333. There could be a lot of reasons for this, but I wanted you to be aware of this.
posted on June 2, 2001 11:32:23 AM new
I would not recommend dragon natuarally speaking. I tried it and they claim 90%+ recognition. Out of the box I got about 20 to 30% and after extensive training it only got about 50%. There were some works that no matter how many times I tried to train it to my voice it was not capable of learning it.
I am not sure what state you are in but here in Michigan if you need something to work and are unable to buy it yourself the State Jobs Commission will help you het what you need. Especially if you have a limiting handicap.
I needed a $6300.00 set of digital hearing aids and they covered all but $300.00 of it for me. The lady working with me had a man from Oregon move into the state and the tools of his trade as an automotive mechanic were stolen in his move and he had no savings to buy them to resume work. They bought a tool chest and about half of the tools he had before which was enough of the basics for him to start again.
See if there is not an agency for that where you are. I also remember seeing on TV a program that watches the eyeballs and can tell what letter you are looking at on the screen and you blink or squeeze a switch in your mouth to pick that letter or symbol.
[ edited by gravid on Jun 2, 2001 11:36 AM ]
posted on June 2, 2001 12:00:27 PM new
Unfortunately, true general voice recognition requires a good computer - lots of memory and a fast CPU. 64Meg/300Mhz is probably a minimum for decent peformance, along with a decent sound card that brings in the voice without adding a lot of noise. But a slower computer might still work, they would just have to dictate very slowly.
Check out staples starting tomorrow IBM's Via Voice is free after rebate (via voice personal edition V8), comes with a headset. IBM has the best voice recognition engine; their software used to be difficult to set up, with luck its easier now. Dragon used to be easier to use, but worse results.
As long as they can speak consistently, they should be able to train the software to understand them pretty well.
posted on June 2, 2001 06:11:12 PM new
I work in the mental health field. At our office we were going to replace typed dictation with voice recognition typed notes.
After six months and 3 different software packages, the project was aborted.
The first software would hear a loud sigh or deep breath as a word. They all would spell the same word different each time it was spoken.
The consensus was that the time it took to set up the vocabulary correctly was just too expensive in man hours. Much cheaper to keep the typists.
posted on June 3, 2001 09:55:41 AM new
I belong to a professional group in the publishing field, and am active on their message board/mailing list. Many of my colleagues are interested in voice recognition software, since what we do is very keyboard-intensive and lots of people are suffering from repetitive stress problems.
The overwhelming consensus among these folks is that Dragon Naturally Speaking (the professional package) is a godsend. Most of us need specialized vocabularies, and even in that situation the "training time" is very short and efficient. Reports are that the software achieves 98-99% accuracy after only a few hours of effort...and then you're set to go.
It's vital to have a good computer, sound card, and microphone...but today's computers are certainly in that ballpark (most of these people started using voice recognition software maybe five years ago, when only a high-end computer was robust enough to handle it).
If you choose to try Dragon Professional, check the box BEFORE you buy the computer, and be sure the sound card is one that the program supports. The microphone that comes with the software is excellent...you won't need another one.
Looking at the computer ads, you could probably get a good setup for this person for under $1000 (WAY under), that would do everything he needs and then some.
From following the threads on this subject, I would say that cheaper software is more trouble-prone and can't achieve the level of accuracy you want. Even the lesser versions of Dragon aren't accurate enough to please a serious author.
BTW, you can use this software in combination with virtually any other program, and even use it to issue computer commands such as "cut,", "paste," "shut down," etc. Again, check the program info to be sure that it will work with whatever this person wants to use it for, but it should work with all common word processors in addition to being a stand-alone program that creates a file that you can import into a WP program later.
