Speech to text software

Another Editor · Mar 24, 2011

Last week, I posted about reading one's own work out loud as part of the proofing process. This time, I want to turn it around. Has anybody here made use of speech-to-text software like Dragon Naturally Speaking? Typing can get hard on my wrists and fingers after a while and being in front of a computer screen for several hours on end is not great for the eyes. This seems, on the surface at least, to be a solution for "writing" first drafts. I have a couple of portable digital recorders so theoretically, I don't have to sit down at the computer in order to do it.

Any thoughts?

Jamesaritchie · Mar 24, 2011

I've used it. It comes with Windows, though Dragon Naturally speaking works much, much better. The latest version is just as good as you are, and is better out of the box than the last version was after training.

I just can't write fiction this way. I can't think of anything to say, and the flow dies.

But I can and do use speech software to control my computer, and to write many e-mails.

ResearchGuy · Jul 21, 2011

I'm working with an author who uses Dragon Naturally Speaking (cannot use hands to type). Not surprisingly, her book draft read as if it had been dictated (more like casual speech than formal writing), and needed editing to adjust accordingly and to fix a lot of punctuation. Still, the program is a godsend for her.

--Ken

Margarita Skies · Jul 21, 2011

I can only type 30-40 words per minute, so a program like that would be great for me. I will see if I can get it at the end of this year or beginning of the next.

Wojciehowicz · Jul 22, 2011

If you do a search in just this forum alone for the term "speech recognition" you'll find a bunch of threads and the upshot is: great for blabbing out lots of text, so-so for recognition at best, and horrible for getting punctuating and formatting. In short, you'll have to do a lot of editing of spelling and so forth.

NOTE: Dragon Home doesn't come with the ability to transcribe audio files. You'll need the full version. Walmart sells the home version, but Best Buy sells full. The price difference may or may not be worth it to you.

ALSO NOTE: Dragon and other trainable speaker-dependent voice recognition software have well-known convergence issues where you think training them is helping, but is in actuality making them less accurate. A dead silent room is absolutely necessary and Dragon isn't lying when they say a high quality microphone properly distanced from your mouth is imperative. Such software works best in a recording studio, not in the average home. A fan nearby one session, ambient sound from traffic another, a slightly off voice due to stress or health the next, without you noticing these little things, will throw it off.

I use speech recognition sparingly these days. It's not really any better than it was in 1984 on 8 bit computers, and to this day, no one has really invented a decent context based system which might aid the selection of the proper words through statistical usage patterns. Although, I believe such is being worked on in smart phone text input systems.

Margarita Skies · Jul 22, 2011

Wojciehowicz said:
If you do a search in just this forum alone for the term "speech recognition" you'll find a bunch of threads and the upshot is: great for blabbing out lots of text, so-so for recognition at best, and horrible for getting punctuating and formatting. In short, you'll have to do a lot of editing of spelling and so forth.

NOTE: Dragon Home doesn't come with the ability to transcribe audio files. You'll need the full version. Walmart sells the home version, but Best Buy sells full. The price difference may or may not be worth it to you.

ALSO NOTE: Dragon and other trainable speaker-dependent voice recognition software have well-known convergence issues where you think training them is helping, but is in actuality making them less accurate. A dead silent room is absolutely necessary and Dragon isn't lying when they say a high quality microphone properly distanced from your mouth is imperative. Such software works best in a recording studio, not in the average home. A fan nearby one session, ambient sound from traffic another, a slightly off voice due to stress or health the next, without you noticing these little things, will throw it off.

I use speech recognition sparingly these days. It's not really any better than it was in 1984 on 8 bit computers, and to this day, no one has really invented a decent context based system which might aid the selection of the proper words through statistical usage patterns. Although, I believe such is being worked on in smart phone text input systems.

Thanks for your valuable opinion and information!! :Thumbs:

Matera the Mad · Jul 24, 2011

A word about computer screen eyestrain -- 90% of the problem is font and background color. Black on glaring white is fine on paper, but while paper reflects light, a monitor emits it. Big difference. Off-white background or white-on-dark ismuch easier on the eyes. Sans-serif font and good font size matter. Use Draft View in Word to avoid having to read those hideous "correct" fonts, Courier Phew! and Times New Eyestrain.

Shorter line length (not fullscreen, especially on a wide monitor!) goes a long way too. The eye tires quickly when it has to scan long lines; it travels farther, and it's harder to pick up the beginning of the next line. Remember, you're not trying to save paper, you're trying to save eyes. Squeeze the window narrower.

I'm going on 65 with advanced glaucoma, and I do all my reading on screen. All day.

I have tried some readers, but only the free stuff. I can't afford the expensive voices, so I don't like to use it. Recording one's own voice can be quite a revelation....

Bethepublisher · Jul 26, 2011

Dragon is great and definitely has it's place but pay attention to how you write with it. It's a very different process talking than it is typing. When you type, you have time to think ahead more (since it's slower) and for many people it's easier to get in a rhythm.

When you dictate, your actual thought process is a little different and some people have a hard time with it. I personally find that dictation programs like Dragon work best for nonfiction, and typing for fiction. That's just my personal preference though

Speech to text software

Another Editor

Jamesaritchie

ResearchGuy

Resident Curmudgeon

Margarita Skies

Wojciehowicz

Alien to My Own Planet

Margarita Skies

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Bethepublisher