Voice Recognition Software

The ability to communicate using technology is one of the greatest achievements that the human race can claim. For those who dislike typing, voice recognition software has proven a boon for productivity; there are many applications for the software that have made it more popular and widespread than ever.

How it works

Voice recognition software uses voice recognition technology that takes the sound waves and uses acoustic modeling and language modeling algorithms to convert them into written words. In recent years, the technology has improved to the point where it is extremely accurate as long as it can hear the words clearly.

Who uses it

Voice recognition software is used by many different people and organizations for many different applications. Cell phone users use it for hands-free text messages in situations where both hands are required elsewhere, such as driving. Health professionals use it in conjunction with medical transcriptionists to speed up the process. Disabled individuals, particularly the hearing impaired, benefit from its use to generate closed captions of conversations that they need to hear; people who have difficulty with their hands due to neurodegenerative illness or arthritis have found it helpful as well. Commercially, it is used for automatic translation for one language to another and in speech to text software such as Dragon Dictation.

Brands

Commercially, it is used for automatic translation for one language to another and in speech to text software such as Dragon Dictation. Additional brands include E-Speaking, Talking Desktop, Tazti, Vlingo and Windows Speech Recognition. There are also numerous cell phone apps that do this as well.

Voice recognition software has found a way to take the spoken word and translate it to the written word automatically. While the software is far from flawless in its execution, it is sure to improve dramatically over time, as it already has since the concept was first demonstrated in 1952.