Voice Recognition Software
 

Who has it ? What brand is best ? Will it work with a laptop ?

My Dh has written code for VRS. I'll ask him.

When I was working I used Dragon Speak. It was a little frustrating to get it trained to my voice and a little slow but I think once you get used to it, it would be fine.

Hi guys

I am currently using a dragon professional version 9 voice software. I'm in Pennsylvania there is a place that loans materials and devices for people with disabilities. It's a free service and they send the equipment right to your home by UPS. They have every thing from computers,software, and just household devices. You can just fill out a form online and submit it and they send it to you within a few days. It's a great service especially since it's free. You get to borrow the equipment for anywhere from six to eight weeks and then UPS comes back to your home and picks it up. You don't pay for shipping either.

I thought I was just borrowing the software to put on my own computer but they have to send you a computer with the software on it. So I ended up borrowing a laptop with the software installed. It's an awesome laptop newer and fast. This software is pretty cool it's the newest one out there. It takes some time to get used to but if you're using it for just basic things it works great. I now have been able to navigate the Internet and computer totally by voice. I can't open programs and new windows all by telling it to do so. Sometimes it gets confused and doesn't get what I'm saying. Especially since my voice is different pretty much every day since my surgery. You can constantly re-train it but it takes time. Also it is very sensitive to other noises so you need to being in a quiet area. I was on the phone yesterday and forgot to turn off the microphone and it was tight being all kinds of things which was so funny. For the most part it works pretty good but I could see that he could get frustrating and old if using it all the time. If you would like anymore information or if anyone wants to know about the service in Pennsylvania please feel free to e-mail me and I will get back to you when I can.

Momz

Spoke with DH about SRS. He recommends Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Here is the web address:

http://www.nuance.com/


Nuance is the company who owns the software. You will see many others they have purchased on the site.

He works on a very expensive medical SR software for hospitals and clinics. (And he thinks he isn't doing anyting important!)

Any questions, call the company or send me a pm or post. I'll ask Jim.

Best Wishes:)

for the MAC
 

I DO NOT recommend Apple's 'iListen' for the MAC.
:mad:
It's awful!!!! a waste of $150.

I think that's the one I was using, it was specifically for medical.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is not just for medical, but I am sure they have versions that are. But you never know, maybe my husband wasn't really listening to my questions....so what's knew? :rolleyes:

I think they have several different versions, the one I was using happened to be for medical.

Got it. Thanks!

It's also very important to have a good sound card in your computer and a decent microphone.

I have Via Voice by IBM from 1999 still works fine when i need to use it.

But I did get a new motherboard with built in sound and it does not work at all with my microphone.
I still had my older sound card so put it in the puter and I can switch between the 2 cards when i need my mic.

My mic is a Plantronics headset type.

If you don't have a good sound card, you also have the option of using a USB pod (which plugs into the USB port of your computer and handles the sound for whatever microphone you attach to it separately from your PC's sound card or integrated sound system).

I've been using USB pod/headset microphone combinations for the past couple of years. I've had good experience with theBoom “O” Microphone and KnowBrainer Hands-Free Headset Microphone combined with a USB pod, with theBoom “O” Microphone seeming best for comfort (at least for large heads like mine:rolleyes:) and a little better at voice recognition.


A good source for both microphones and Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice software (both preferred and professional editions) is knowbrainer.com,
a site that is both a Dragon NaturallySpeaking reseller and also sells an add-on program for Dragon NaturallySpeaking called KnowBrainer.

They also have free support forums for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, microphones and sound recorders, etc. (accessible from the main site -- can't post a direct link here because I get a message saying that I don't have enough posts to be able to post links or images :()

Regards,

ThreeForOne

Thanks for all of the input. I hadn't even thought of needing the headset thingy.

Sounds like Dragon is the way to go.