January/February 1998

Magazine Features

Clear As A Bell

Have you ever tried to hold a phone conversation at the office when the people in the adjoining office are doing the same thing? Noise is the enemy of voice communication at work, at home or on the road. Although noise is merely an annoyance during an ordinary phone conversation - you just speak a little louder, or repeat yourself when the din subsides - in some communications, it goes far beyond mere inconvenience.

Continuous Speech: Better Over Time

Developers of speech recognition products typically, and for the most part fairly, make the claim that their products get better with use. Speech products recognize words with a higher rate of accuracy as they become more accustomed to a person's speech patterns. In this article, we will attempt to describe the performance of IBM's ViaVoice and Dragon's NaturallySpeaking over the last two months since our previous article. IBM's ViaVoice appeared to be perhaps slightly less accurate than Dragon's NaturallySpeaking, after their initial training sessions. With time, and the training which goes with it, IBM's performance appears to have improved. However, Dragon may still have an edge.

First Full Featured Continuous Speech Office Suite Launched

Applied Voice Recognition Inc., (AVRI) recently launched their VoiceCommander-ProTM software, the first full featured office suite integrated with IBM ViaVoice which combines continuous speech dictation capabilities with voice command and control functionality.

SPEECH RECONNAISSANCE: Wearable Computers

Our goal with this column is to spot emerging trends in speech recognition, to be a little ahead of the curve in an extremely fast paced industry. For that reason we could not resist a trip to the First Annual Symposium on Wearable Computers held in October in Cambridge, Mass. near the MIT campus.

SpeechTEK '97 Draws Corporate Buyers to New York

SpeechTEK '97 showcased many new developments in the speech field and showed how the technology is advancing and moving into new markets. Following are two reports on the show. The first, by editor Brian Lewis, details the interest of corporate buyers in a variety of vertical markets. A second report from Peter Fleming and Robert Anderson discusses how many of the advances in speech dictation and recognition products were received.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE: Will Microsoft's Stake in Lernout & Hauspie Drive Growth in Speech?

Microsoft and Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products have announced a broad strategic alliance designed to accelerate development of the next generation of voice-enabled computing on the Microsoft Windows platform. <@SM>

WYSIWYS: What You See is What You Say

What does the term "speech-aware" mean in an application?I first heard this term in 1994 while developing and teaching speech programming classes at IBM. The term "speech-enabled" meant that a current application used keystroke macros which were attached to a voice keyword to perform an action. This would be the equivalent of a macro in Wordperfect or Brief, but using voice.

Your Voiceprint Will Be Your Key

Soon there will be no need to carry money, keys, credit cards or identification cards. Devices that automatically identify a person from speech patterns will become ubiquitous. Your voice will permit you to access secure buildings, allow for electronic access to networks, and be the basis for secure phone applications such as bank-by-phone and long distance service lines. It will not be surprising to see a jogger pay for bottled water with a "cardless credit card." No personal identification number (PIN) or wallet will be needed; just your voice.

Forward Thinking

May We Speak Privately?

Privacy is a large and complex concept that encompasses a broad spectrum of freedoms and protections of person, property, and information. When privacy is applied to the use of computing technologies, concerns generally involve the collection, use, and dissemination of personal information.