A Warm Hello To All!

I am greatly enjoying the very informative threads on this forum! Thanks so much to all contributors!:Thanx:

I have been having progressive nerve/pain/muscle problems in all limbs and find there is much that is far too painful for my hands (and feet) due to neuropathologies.

My neurologist has encouraged me to plan a bit differently for various tasks, including the use of a computer keyboard!

It is actually incredibly painful now to use the keyboard and has become increasingly difficult to feel keys and to properly control muscles.

I will be having surgery on one arm/hand very soon! I need to replace my computer (which I am learning a great deal about here). It is very old now and has been upgraded all it can! It's "time."

I plan to buy a computer (likely a laptop, Melody!) within the next week or two and I also need to install some form of a voice recognition program.. and get right to work at learning to use it!

I have had a few friends suggest "Dragon."

I have had a few others tell me all of the V.R. programs simply are not worthwhile?

I am interested in people's experiences/knowledge/opinions on voice recognition software.

Also, if you know where there's reliable info, I am happy to research it!
I don't mind doing the "work!"

Thanks, in advance, for your time and consideration!

Many blessings to all!

Hi there! I have not purchased Dragon for my computer yet ($$ ) but I have had the chance to use the newest version of it at my college. Due to my physical limitations I am able to access their tech lab for disabled students. There is a bit of learning to do cos you can't just talk as in everyday speech. But I felt that it was good and I would recommend it.
There are others I haven't used yet. I'm told there is one built into Windows but I can't find it
I have found good ergonomic info here http://www.ergoblog.com/ also rsi-relief.com has reviewed several voice program here: http://www.rsi-relief.com/?s=voice+recognition
Good luck with your pain- I hope you find relief soon

I deeply appreciate your feedback!

I will defintiely check out the links and will also be sure to visit the blog site!

I saw Dragon on sale for $70.00 last week. (I think that is a substantial savings? However, I did not buy it because, even at this price I consider it a substantial investment, and I had not made a decision on it yet!)

I hope you are able to obtain the program of your choice asap!
(Wishing you "abundance and prosperity" according to your needs!)

Thanks again!

Hi,

I bought this a couple years ago and gave it to my ex boyfriend to use. He was born in Israel and english wasn't his first language so he could speak the word and it would type it for him. The only problem with the software is if you have an accent (sometimes my bostonian one is thick) and of course his accent was strong then it'll type the wrong word and sometimes you get a little tired of saying the same word over and over. But, if you program it well to recognize your voice it really is neat and gives your hands/arms a break!

I have Dragon, and also a couple additional voice recog. programs.

If the laptop has Vista platform, it will likely be bundled or packaged with voice / speech recognition installed. (Mine did, and it may be a staple or ... I dunno if it cost x-tra. My computer was gift, and a so-called "special edition" HP, so I don't know if voice is usually factory installed.)


Any voice recog. is generally as good or as responsive as the "training" it receives. By that I mean, the more time someone puts into "training" the program to understand one's personal pronunciations and enunciation, the more accurate and responsive the effect and results when the program is in-use.



I'd read the materials that accompany the program and follow the suggestions for use, including the tips on "training" (the program to recognize one's voice). I'm not suggesting that you wouldn't anyway but mentioning it since it's on my mind and related to my amazement at how many friends I have who constantly ask for help with something and, yet, didn't first read the manual, help files, etc.

Be sure to have a decent microphone.

The sound card in the computer can make a difference also- I had 2 that did not pick up any mic sounds very well at all.

If buying a new computer - ask if the sound card, or on board sound is high quality - because you will need to use voice recognition at times.
It wouldn't hurt to ask about testing it at the store to see if it seems to fit your needs.

I was looking for more info and did see that Vista does have a voice recognition built in or added on to it - so you might ask for a demo of it at the store too.
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/prod...ta/speech.aspx

I used this one yrs ago and it worked fine -
http://ivos.comunx.com/

Dear Monique, Bobbi and Jo,

Thanks so much for your input! You each have raised important points/considerations!

Monique, you have made a great point about accents!
This is something people probably rarely think of until after they have a problem? By the way, I had spent a good 15 years in the Greater Boston area and love the heavy Boston accent!

Bobbi, great info! One can never stress simply reading the directions enough! I recall teachers always stressing the importance of being able (and willing) to follow directions in my elementary school! I was lucky I'd had teachers stressing this point so very much in my school system! This had made a huge impression upon me! Thanks, too, for reiterating the important point of spending time with "training" the program! I need to plan on that!

Jo, I am grateful for your important points, as well! I did thinnk about a mic, at one point, but then had forgotten about it. I did not think about the sound card... at all! So glad you have pointed these things out!

I continue deeply appreciative of all of the assistance with this topic!

Many blessings!

If I may, and I hope you don't mind DejaVu, I'd like to share some additional info. respective of some posts I'm reading in the thread .


Thursday, Windows does have VR installed - if, for instance, a computer's XP platform is Pro, not Home Edition.

Speech/Voice Recognition can be found in the computer's Control Panel (CP).

Go to the Start menu; it's where the Windows icon appears. Left click, and you should see the Control Panel option. Again, left click. Look in the CP for the application.


Monique, you may have already discovered this, so just ignore what I'm about to relay if that's the case.

Each Voice Recog. program I've used, there is also the option to tweak word pronunciations. For example, words that just aren't coming across correctly (say, speech-to-text) can be adjusted phonetically, so that the intended word is saved in the programs database for future use. It's a great tool for people with heavy accents or dialects - and possibly less frustrating.

With one of my programs, I wanted it to have a Southern drawl, and I named the program Kermit. I wanted it to say Key-air-mitt in the "Welcome" message when the app. was booted, so I tweaked the pronounciation. Worked like a charm.


DejaVu, what I did was read a ton of customer reviews and did a comparison, too, respective of features being offered: text, surfing, E-mail, etc., had to be included for me.

Another nice thing I just discovered - for computers/users - that do have Voice Recog. already installed: No training is need if "Read" is a desired function while working in certain applications, such as Adobe PDF. I gave it a test-run on my 'puter. And, it worked beautifully.