When I first heard the term “speech recognition,” technological fantasies danced in my head. I saw myself wearing a futuristic headset, leaning back in my desk chair and confidently speaking to my computer. Right before my eyes, those very same words scrolled across the screen to the rhythm of my voice. Memos, emails, personal diaries; even the Great American Novel were only days away from completion. It was a very nice dream, indeed.
Unfortunately, rarely is anticipation of a new technology met without disappointment of some sort. For years, speech recognition has been declared by many experts to be the “Holy Grail” of personal computing. Setting aside the health benefits of speaking rather than typing, the very idea of speaking to your machine, and your machine obediently responding seemed to make even the most mundane tasks an exercise in spiritual awakening. And yet, until very recently, even the best SR solutions simply did not live up to the hyperbole. As a Mac devotee, there seemed to be even less of a push for voice-related solutions.
For Windows users, Dragon Dictate Naturally Speaking by Nuance Inc. was the software of choice. Though offered in various editions, the program was said to achieve a 95% accuracy rate. At first, this sounds extremely high, almost perfect. Yet, when you are dealing with a subject such as language, where even a slight misspelling can mean the difference between understanding and nonsense, 95% simply is not good enough. On the Apple side, we had a program called MacListen, which also claimed a similar success rate, yet demonstrated a similar failure to meet expectations. It was not until 2007 that the reviews began to declare that Dragon had almost gotten it right, and that with practice and the right equipment, Windows users now had the dream program they were searching for. For us Mac folks, it seemed that our choice remained either speak and be misunderstood or simply continue to type. And then it happened.
From the most recent MacWorld, amidst the screaming announcements of Mac Book Airs and Time Capsules, the company responsible for Dragon Dictate announced that they had purchased MacListen, and would soon be releasing MacDictate for the Mac community. The release date right now is mid to late February. This is great news for those attorneys who want to take advantage of what speech recognition has to offer but would rather send smoke signals to Court than give up their macs.
Finally a company, already successful in the Windows arena, recognized the value in sharing their technology with those wishing to talk to their macs. From early reviews, it seems that the program is already a leap above what is currently offered for macs.
My hope is that other companies will look at Nuance and follow their lead. Sometimes doing the right thing, just because it is the right thing, is the right thing to do.
