by John Melendez

Created on: July 22, 2009

The Wonders Of Voice Recognition Software

This article is written as a follow-up to a previous piece about voice recognition software.

Or rather... these words were spoken and then automatically transcribed to the written form you are reading now. In this manner, I did not "write" these words. I used my voice recognition software to make these words appear rather quickly...

As With Everything: There Are Pros And Cons

As it is with everything else in this world, there are pros and cons to everything one runs across. In this case, I want to share some experience with you about a few ups and downs of a relatively wonderful new technology: Voice Recognition Software

History

While the concept of automated transcription is not at all new, it has been something in the works in the last several decades.

In its more primitive form, voice recognition software first appeared in the way that many new things do: as an expensive and clumsy technology whose access was limited only to those able to afford it - let alone those who have the patience to put up with the many shortcomings that often accompany new products.

I remember seeing voice recognition software for the first time in the mid-1980s. My father, a physician, had traditionally used a cassette tape transcription machine. He typically created content by speaking into a hand-held microphone activated by a button he would depress with his thumb. After the cassette tape he was recording into filled up, he would throw it into an envelope and pass it on to his secretary who then transcribed his words with a typewriter onto paper (and in later days onto a computer diskette).

"Transcription" vs. "Recognition"

In its earlier days, voice recognition software was actually called something along the lines of "transcription software". While this terminology was directed to users of the technology available that day, the more recent introduction of the term "recognition" is absolutely appropriate.

OLD: "Transcription" refers to the clumsy, elaborate, and time-consuming process of recording one's voice onto tape, passing it on to someone else, and then paying them to type it onto paper.

NEW: "Recognition" now refers to a much more efficient and simpler process involving the speaking of words and seeing them appear on the monitor within a few seconds. While what I have described here sounds more or less like transcription, it is true "recognition" in the sense that superior software also does "recognize" the speaker's voice and will continue

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