I demonstrated Dragon NaturallySpeaking to a large group of people in a UK government organisation last week. The demonstration went brilliantly. Much interest has been expressed in speech recognition as a result.

However, the organisation concerned is moving towards open plan offices and away from private offices and is consequently raising an objection to speech recognition. The management fears that those not using speech recognition will be disturbed and upset by their neighbours who are constantly talking at their computers.

Has anyone any experience of this issue? Is there a way of overcoming this obvious objection?

Peter

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DNS Professional 12 UK English version, Windows 8 64-bit with 8 Gb RAM plus 8 Gb ReadyBoost, Audio Technica ATH-COM2 headset microphone/Buddy 7G USB sound adapter, VoicePower Ultimate. Skype user name peter.maddern www.speechempoweredcomputing.co.uk

Peter,

I work in an open plan office, and my obvious question about (or rebuttal to) this line of thinking is: how is the noise pollution created by a Dragon user different than that of someone who is constantly on their telephone? I'm dictating this message while one of my colleagues is on speakerphone. Not only is she talking, but I can hear the noise from three of her conversation partners as well. Ergo, speech recognition is at least three times less distracting than your typical office noise pollution.

Dealing with talking -- be it on a telephone, brainstorming, or to a computer is just a natural consequence of shared office space. I've learned to deal, but never let it be said that I'm totally against passive aggressive behavior :-)

More to the point: in my experience, one learns to tune out the Dragon users just like we do the people on the phone. Anyone who says, "but phone people aren't constantly on the phone!" probably doesn't have a sense of how the modern government office runs anyway.

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Eric Wright At work: DNS 12 Pro. At home: DNS 11.5 Pro,  KnowBrainer 2011, and Utter Command by RedStart Systems; Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac

 

Appetite for Dictation - My Blog

Eric

I should have been more clear.

The workers in this office are "knowledge workers". To the best of my understanding, they don't spend much time on the telephone or huddling around talking to each other. Each individual person is tasked with looking at inventions and searching their vast databases to see if the "invention" has already been thought of.

It's a "heads down" type of office environment.

I know what you mean about the environment you describe in your reply. I used to work in a similar environment in the corporate sector and you are right, it can get quite noisy from various (non-speech recognition) activities.

Peter

 

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DNS Professional 12 UK English version, Windows 8 64-bit with 8 Gb RAM plus 8 Gb ReadyBoost, Audio Technica ATH-COM2 headset microphone/Buddy 7G USB sound adapter, VoicePower Ultimate. Skype user name peter.maddern www.speechempoweredcomputing.co.uk

Slightly off topic:

Does anyone remember an article that was published some 10 years ago? The gist was "just imagine if everyone had to type into these clumsy, noisy keyboards instead of dictating and controlling the computer by voice". A parody to be sure, but a very funny one, and basically in favour of Speech recognition.

Maybe someone still has the bookmark and can post it here.

Stephan

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www.egs-vertrieb.de - Speech Recognition Blog - Forum: www.immer-eine-Nuance-besser.de

 

http://www.pcspeak.com/hints/general/salonspoof.shtml  is the link.   It was a parody of a 1999 Dragon NaturallySpeaking review in Salon magazine (still available).   Thanks, Stephan, for reminding me of this. 

Peter, if the organization has a person with a sense of humor, feel free to point them to the article.   Keyboards are not silent.

 

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Larry Allen
Softnet Systems, Inc.
http://www.pcspeak.com

Larry,

thank you for pointing me to the article. I didn't realize you were the author, even though I remembered it being a parody of sorts. Still hugely enjoyable!

For current purposes, this might be the right quote:

Personally, I particularly love this:

Especially in the context of Apple's Siri - for years people have been telling us about the haptic beauty of stroking an electronic device with your fingers, and suddenly speech control is the Next Big Thing!

Stephan

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www.egs-vertrieb.de - Speech Recognition Blog - Forum: www.immer-eine-Nuance-besser.de

Stephan,

Attitude changes as technology changes unfortunately. Not the other way around. There are those of us that have been pushing speech recognition on "smart" devices for long, long time. When I was working with L&H and they released PDsay circa 1999-2000, I was assisting product management in testing that software on the Compaq iPAQ's, which allowed the user to search their contact directory by voice. One of the things that I submitted one of my reports was the concept of using this technology to dictate e-mails and/or reports.

Apple's SIRI brought speech recognition and voice control into the mainstream, but there was a demonstration by Nuance a couple of years ago that was posted on their website as well as on YouTube demonstrating texting by speech recognition vs. texting by hand pitting the world's fastest texter against the Nuance speech recognition app under development at that time. Not only was the Nuance product faster, it was just as accurate. However, that technology hasn't been introduced into the mainstream until just recently.

Nonetheless, because of the ridiculously difficult process of using the touchscreen keyboards, or even the physical keyboards, on smart phones and similar devices, one of the things that I've always pointed out is that the value of speech recognition on these devices is that you don't need a keyboard of any type.

Another review of R&D into what's going to come down the pike in the future pointed out that cell phones are going to disappear (be obsolete), computers are going to get smaller and more powerful replacing cell phones, and you'll be able to put it in your pocket. These won't run on hydrogen cell batteries that will last up to three years continuously on 24/7/365. Video will be through a heads up display built into glasses, sunglasses, etc. When we reach that point manual input via physical keyboards will be no longer viable because these devices will fit in your shirt pocket and you don't have to hold them in your hand to use them. In addition, the processors will be multicore/multithreading and support RAM upwards of several hundred gigabytes with processor performance that will be magnitudes of times faster than even the fastest current supercomputers. This technology may not be available for another 10 years, but researchers are speculating that sometime within this period we will begin to see these types of devices appearing on the scene. As this technology involves, we will be connected 24/7/365 to everywhere and anyone virtually instantly.

What we are beginning to see come to the front is this type of technology in its absolute infancy, the same as speech recognition was 20 years ago. "Next Big Thing", perhaps to the average user, but, not to the visionaries. The only problem here will be what will happen psychologically when we reach this stage (finally) of true information overload. Keyboards and touch screens have their place at the moment, but their death knell is imminent. Speech recognition is the wave of the future and always has been. It's just been waiting for the technology to catch up.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, We make it better!

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." -  Albert Einstein

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I really worry about the breakdown in human relationships that this portends. Even now, we see 3 teenagers walking together on the sidewalk, the outer 2 talking on their cell phones, with no communication between the three. Or the person talking on their cell phone while the grocery or bank clerk is trying to get their attention to ask them a question. Sure, students are more easily able to fire off a question at 3:00am to their prof, which leads to quicker "communication", but is this better? Is this really "communication"? Is there not value-added in a face-to-face office appt with the prof? On the other hand, I would not have made the friends that I have made on this forum had it not been for a change in technology. But it is likely that I will never meet any of you in person. I have many international friends in the Magnolia Society, some of which I have met at annual conventions, and some I will never meet. Sitting next to someone at dinner or on a bus is more personally rewarding.  If we could see each other's facial expressions while "communicating", there would be less misinterpretation of content and intent of speech. While technology is certainly making us more "connected", it is also fostering an increasing "disconnect" in our communications and relationships. Technology advances are changing relationships, both good and bad.

Maybe it is time to organize a KnowBrainer convention at Lunis' house in the woods of Tennessee?

MDH

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Mark,

Eloquently and appropriately put. I couldn't agree with you more.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, We make it better!

"The problem with communication is the illusion that is has occurred."- George Bernard Shaw

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Chuck,

I was aiming at your average blogger, tech and non-tech journalist. They need a Next Big Thing every week anyway ;-)

Stephan

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www.egs-vertrieb.de - Speech Recognition Blog - Forum: www.immer-eine-Nuance-besser.de

Larry,

Fortunately, that's no longer the case. Logitech has produced a number of new and absolutely silent keyboards. The one that I'm using currently using, which is not only 100% reliable and wireless using the "anywhere" tiny receivers, is the Logitech K360. Even the original SpeechWare 3-in-1 one first-generation TableMike™ without the De-clicking algorithm doesn't respond to using this keyboard. What may have been true in the past, is no longer the case and at $29 for one of these keyboards, it's a steal with virtually no negative caveats.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, we make it better!

"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." -- Robert X. Cringely

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Actually,  a user that is a "keyboard pounder"  can defeat even a quiet keyboard.

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Help! I can't see vowels!! (and sometimes "y")

hymer,

Actually, you haven't tried it, have you? If not, then you're just spouting pontifica out of your navel. It would take an awful lot of pounding on this keyboard. It is truly silent.

Yes, I can hammer a nail with a sledgehammer, or slam my shoe on my desktop, but I have three of these and they don't produce any key clicks at all.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, We make it better!

"One-fifth of the people are against everything all the time." - Robert F. Kennedy

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MDH - probably not but there is another option - Skype video calls. I use it all the time for video calls to my Business contacts, friends and family. This is in addition to the Remote Control/Webinar tool that we use.

I just added my Skype user name to my signature so if anyone wants a "chat" about any aspect of speech recognition on the PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad, you know where to find me!

Perhaps some of us members could have the occasional Skype Group Video Conference (like a Google + Huddle) to "chew the cud" about speech recognition, although don't you have to upgrade to a Skype Pro subscription to do group video?

Peter

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DNS Professional 12 UK English version, Windows 8 64-bit with 8 Gb RAM plus 8 Gb ReadyBoost, Audio Technica ATH-COM2 headset microphone/Buddy 7G USB sound adapter, VoicePower Ultimate. Skype user name peter.maddern www.speechempoweredcomputing.co.uk

As long as no one watches the movie "Deliverance" first, we should all just meet at Lunis' Tennessee forest home.

MDH

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Just to put this out there for United States users who might be reading this post wondering if their workplace will object to their using speech recognition – if you have a physical reason (i.e., chronic pain from computer use) for wanting to use it, your workplace most likely needs to cooperate because allowing you to use speech recognition would be a "reasonable accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A disability under the Act is something that interferes with a major life activity, so your chronic pain probably qualifies even though you may not think of yourself as a disabled person. I am not an expert in this area so please do not consider this legal advice – but you might contact Disability Rights Advocates or a similar organization for advice. Perhaps there is similar protection in the UK.

[Note: your HR department is probably already well aware of its obligations under the ADA to provide reasonable accommodations, so I would try a very friendly approach, letting them know that you are experiencing chronic pain and want to use speech recognition software and that you wanted to get their advice about that. Again, this is not legal advice - ask DRA for their take.]

Incidentally, back in the dot.com days, I used DNS in an open office with dozens of people. No one ever objected, and some of my coworkers actually told me they found it kind of soothing hearing me talk to my computer because it has a kind of robotic quality dictating punctuation and navigation commands and such. I got a promotion and multiple raises and was well regarded, so it did not hinder me in the workplace. On the other hand, I found it a bit annoying not to be able to dictate privately because it made me self-conscious sometimes, especially if I was frustrated about something because you could detect it in my voice. Also, I think it would be more problematic in an office with just one other person than in an open office environment where noises are expected.

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Core i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz, NaturallySpeaking Legal 11.5, Knowbrainer 2010, VoicePower Ultimate, The Boom O headset, Andrea USB pod. [Occasionally use: Olympus DS-5000 voice recorder, Sylencer mask microphone.]

Just to put this out there for United States users who might be reading this post wondering if their workplace will object to their using speech recognition – if you have a physical reason (i.e., chronic pain from computer use) for wanting to use it, your workplace most likely needs to cooperate because allowing you to use speech recognition would be a "reasonable accommodation" under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A disability under the Act is something that interferes with a major life activity, so your chronic pain probably qualifies even though you may not think of yourself as a disabled person. I am not an expert in this area so please do not consider this legal advice – but you might contact Disability Rights Advocates or a similar organization for advice. Perhaps there is similar protection in the UK.

[Note: your HR department is probably already well aware of its obligations under the ADA to provide reasonable accommodations, so I would try a very friendly approach, letting them know that you are experiencing chronic pain and want to use speech recognition software and that you wanted to get their advice about that. Again, this is not legal advice - ask DRA for their take.]

Incidentally, back in the dot.com days, I used DNS in an open office with dozens of people. No one ever objected, and some of my coworkers actually told me they found it kind of soothing hearing me talk to my computer because it has a kind of robotic quality dictating punctuation and navigation commands and such. I got a promotion and multiple raises and was well regarded, so it did not hinder me in the workplace. On the other hand, I found it a bit annoying not to be able to dictate privately because it made me self-conscious sometimes, especially if I was frustrated about something because you could detect it in my voice. Also, I think it would be more problematic in an office with just one other person than in an open office environment where noises are expected.

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Core i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz, NaturallySpeaking Legal 11.5, Knowbrainer 2010, VoicePower Ultimate, The Boom O headset, Andrea USB pod. [Occasionally use: Olympus DS-5000 voice recorder, Sylencer mask microphone.]

 Actually, this is another reason speech recognition may not be suited in some open office settings.

If you have a job where you are dealing with confidential information or complaints.

 

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Help! I can't see vowels!! (and sometimes "y")

Well, the consensus seems to be that this is still a work in progress in so far as use of speech-recognition in open-work areas would seem to require a work environment that can adapt itself at reasonable cost. To the extent that the work environment also encompasses a social environment in which people congregate to exchange small talk, impromptu conferences, etc., that may set up irreconcilable conflicts that cannot be resolved easily. If the worksite acoustics create an echo-chamber environment, accommodating speech-recognition users may be well-nigh impossible. The cost to modify the physical work environment can be very high, and these are costs that business managers work relentlessly to minimize or eliminate entirely.

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Art Silen

artsilen@sbcglobal.net; art.silen.mediator@gmail.com  

"Question assumptions"

DSN 11.5, running on Win7;Intel Core i7 CPU 970 @3.20 GHz; System Memory 12 GB; Graphic AMD Radcon HD6570; System Board 2A861.04E01; System Bios 6.15

Art,

You raise good points about cost-benefit analysis and reasonable accommodation. I would suggest, though, that the cost to set up a workable speech recognition environment can be surprisingly low. Assuming you're using Dragon Professional, that doesn't come cheap. Nuance or your favorite reseller, though, might be able to work out volume licensing discounts. But in terms of additional costs for enhancements to your environment? A lot can be accomplished with $80. Last I checked, that was the cost of the KnowBrainer hands-free headset and a suitable USB sound pod.

That's a long way of saying that a good USB sound pod and good, noise-canceling close-talk microphone can work wonders in crowded, talkative areas. I use one every day, and have for years. I wouldn't use the SpeechWare 2-in-1 in an environment with a lot of background noise, because my experience is that even the best desktop mics can pick up unwanted speech from nearby talkers. But I can be at my desk (no walls nearby), have somebody less than a foot away having a conversation, and still be controlling my computer accurately with the Sennheiser ME-3... and I'm not the only Dragon user on my floor.

It really is doable. The privacy concerns are legitimate, though.

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Eric Wright At work: DNS 12 Pro. At home: DNS 11.5 Pro,  KnowBrainer 2011, and Utter Command by RedStart Systems; Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac

 

Appetite for Dictation - My Blog

 now you are starting to get rude.

I tried looking up pontifica and it doesn't seem to be a word, perhaps you misspelled it?, however it still sounds rude.

 I wasn't talking key clicks, wasn't talking about the keyboard wearing out and started to click, I was talking about the sound of finger on plastic.

SOME people are quite "heavy fingered".

Maybe it's because they are having a bad day, or they haven't had their morning coffee yet, but it makes a noise.

 Or perhaps you don't know how sound is created?

  Did you miss the part where I said "library type quiet"?

Or do you talk loudly at libraries as well?

This thread is obviously about an office setting where a certain level of quiet is expected and needed.

 Talking to DNS in your regular voice is noisy. Several people talking is going to be noisier.

If you haven't had any experience where a quiet atmosphere is expected, than your experience is pretty limited and you're just "spouting pontifica out of your navel."

 

If you are not going to talk about the topic, perhaps you should skip it?

 

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Help! I can't see vowels!! (and sometimes "y")

This is the key assumption, isn't it? Why is a certain level of quiet "expected?" Peter did a good job clarifying the current work environment, but the million dollar question is whether that quiet can/should be disrupted in favor of speech recognition.

I think the answer is an obvious yes, but I'm also posting on the KnowBrainer forum. Despite being a hands-free Dragon user as often as possible, I'm a proficient typist. I never learned proper form (out of some combination of necessity and habit), but I learned how to type before I learned how to write with a pencil. I can consistently, accurately type 60 words per minute. I can easily double that while dictating, and I've been known to approach the mythical 180 words per minute mark. To double, triple, or otherwise exponentially increase someone's productivity is worth a little noise pollution, is it not?

Personally, the real productivity gains from speech recognition software come not from Dragon's dictation/transcription capability, but the ability to control my computer with my voice. Dragon's built-in voice commands are more quickly and easily deployed than complex combinations of keystrokes and mouse clicks, thereby substantially reducing my time on task. When you consider the time savings gained from deploying voice-activated macros... well, it's not even close. In his book on scripting for Dragon, Larry Allen has an example "macro to get me home ten minutes earlier each day." The joke around the office is that I'm only a few lines away from a "do my job" macro that completely automates any "administrivial" tasks I need to do throughout my day.

There's a salient argument to be made in favor of Dragon based on its Outlook compatibility alone. They say the average knowledge worker suffers from email overload. Countless studies have been done detailing the time we waste on e-mail, and recently several companies have taken high-profile anti-email stances. Most folks in this forum know that Dragon (and your favorite third party enhancements) make really quick work of email.

I'll devote some more thought to this ASAP. The business case for speech recognition is an important one. I gotta ask, though, Peter (even though its mostly a rhetorical question): I know you're a consultant and a reseller, but why are you making this case instead of Nuace UK?

Cheers,

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Eric Wright At work: DNS 12 Pro. At home: DNS 11.5 Pro,  KnowBrainer 2011, and Utter Command by RedStart Systems; Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac

 

Appetite for Dictation - My Blog

 I'm sorry, but what planet do you live on?

 When you were going to school did your teacher say "everyone make as much noise as possible to do your work?"

Have you also missed the library example?

You really are not aware of work situations where people need quiet to concentrate?

 I have worked in places where people had radio's on low volume and were asked to turn them off because people found it disruptive. Do you think people complaining about the noise are just trying to cause trouble?

 Some people do concentrate better with background noise, but they pick their background noise, and they can use headphones. Maybe you think the whole office should wear  acoustic earmuffs so a couple of people can use speech recognition?

 Speech recognition does not have a place everywhere. It's a tool. Just like you don't use a hammer everywhere, you don't use speech recognition everywhere, though I'm sure the people selling it would like you to.

 Some people are more productive with it, some people need it due to disabilities, but let's face it, some people just like it for the "gee whiz" factor, even if it's less productive.

 

 

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Help! I can't see vowels!! (and sometimes "y")

I work in a mostly open office area where in the open areas we have cubicles with 5' high walls.

I occasionally have a comment about my using DNS, but it is more out of curiosity than a complaint, since using DNS does not sound like a normal conversation.

In my case, it is more likely to make DNS unusable from the back ground noise, then my noise to be disruptive to others.

 If they need library type quiet, I can see DNS being distracting or annoying to some people, especially if their open office concept only has walls 3' high, or even 4' high walls. But this would be worse for DNS as well.

 

 

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Help! I can't see vowels!! (and sometimes "y")

Peter,

Unfortunately, there has never been any adequate research done to which anyone can point in countering this objection. L&H did some usability studies on this issue back between 2000 and 2001, but the results of these were never quantified. In addition, I'm not aware of anything other than anecdotal responses to this objection.

My personal experience is that using speech recognition in an open office is no more distracting than anything else that occurs in an open office environment. In fact, being surrounded with other employees that are talking on the telephone or carrying on conversations is likely to be more distracting to someone using speech recognition than vice versa.

I respond to this type of the ejection in the following manner:

First thing I do is turn the question back on the person or persons raising the objection. That is, I ask them specifically how they perceive speech recognition as being a distraction. It is much easier to counter specifically defined objections vs. trying to respond to a general concern. Keep in mind that most of these folks do not understand anything relative to speech recognition under any condition. You are the expert. Take the bull by the horns and force those who are expressing objections to clearly and specifically define how they perceive speech recognition as being a distraction. You will often find that if you take this approach, these objections are more often than not effectively countered. In short, turn the issue around and make the person who is expressing their objections, defend them. You will very often find that their objections are somewhat hollow. That is, their objections are based on the lack of understanding vs. a knowledge of speech recognition.

Second, in an open office environment the choice of microphone/soundcard more often than not answers these objections. For example, using a microphone such as the Sennheiser ME-3, or an equivalent, with a USB SoundPod often allows employees in an open office environment to speak at a reasonable volume, but a lower volume that someone speaking on the telephone. Therefore, speech recognition under this condition is often less distracting than anything else. Personally, I also find that structured speech is less distracting than conversational speech (i.e. speaking to someone on the telephone). Further, having to dictate punctuation is more often than not a point of curiosity with regard to other employees in an open office environment rather than a distraction.

Third, once any particular group or organization decides that speech recognition is a viable technology, the objections that may have been initially raised often fade because workers get used to listening to someone dictate. I did NaturallySpeaking is used in a wide variety of environments, including open office situations. We at VoicePower have many clients at Cisco, Wells Fargo bank, HP, and others where the speech recognition technology is used extensively without objection in these types of environments.

In summary, most of the objections raised are really moot and/or non sequiturs. If you are unable to overcome the objections using the above approach, suggest to those who are expressing those objections to conduct a usability study in their own environments so that they can see firsthand what problems may or may not arise. Very often, doing this kind of usability study is enlightening to everyone. There is absolutely no reason why speech recognition can't be adapted to open office environment. We don't experience any of these types of objections from our major corporate clients.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, we make it better!

It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese. - Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)

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This goes back many years, but I recall watching a military training film regarding courts-martial proceedings, and the court reporter was speaking into a mask-like device containing a microphone, repeating back the trial proceeding then ongoing. Voice-recorded stenography has been a viable alternative to mechanical stereotype machines for many years, indicating that, at least in that venue, voice recording does not interfere with other work being done nearby. This is not a typical situation. It does suggest that this is an area worth exploring, as acoustic recording technologies have advanced remarkably over the past few years, and it may be worthwhile to experiment with adding additional material around a microphone's head that would either absorb or deflect other ambient sound, and perhaps, make the speaker's voice less intrusive and disturbing to other people in the room. Just as speakers can be taught to speak in soft, modulated tones, worksite architecture can be configured to minimize ambient noise. Use of noise-canceling headphones may also be helpful in allowing speakers to concentrate on their work without distraction. Improved technologies combined with artfully-designed, semi-enclosed workstations could be a preferred alternative to fully-enclosed offices in situations where the worksite's HVAC configuration would not adequately heat or cool workspaces during summer or winter months.

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Art Silen

artsilen@sbcglobal.net; art.silen.mediator@gmail.com  

"Question assumptions"

DSN 11.5, running on Win7;Intel Core i7 CPU 970 @3.20 GHz; System Memory 12 GB; Graphic AMD Radcon HD6570; System Board 2A861.04E01; System Bios 6.15

The enclosed definition may prove instructive.

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DNS 12.0 Professional, Windows 7, Intel Core i7 2630QM, 16GB of RAM. Second-Generation SpeechWare 6-in-1.

It wasn't.

 I'll take Merriam-Webster over a Latin dictionary.

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Help! I can't see vowels!! (and sometimes "y")

Just echoing Chuck's excellent observations.  I am dictating this post whilst speaking moderately quiet and at a much lower volume than I would speak to someone in person or on the telephone.  If I were speaking any quieter than I am now, I would be almost whispering.  Because of this fact, I cannot believe that this would interfere with the general day-to-day workings of an open office.

To add to this, because of the fact that dictating is three times faster than typing, I believe your general work productivity would soar and your workload be cut by two thirds.  This must far outweigh your worries of annoyance to others by dictating at an acceptable level.  Surely your boss, if shown what speech recognition can do, would be warming to that fact alone.

Echoing what Chuck has said once again, microphones specifically made for speech recognition are improving all the time as with most technologies.  To go to one extreme, if you were to use the Sennheiser MD 431 ll, the recommended grand-daddy of all desktop microphones, you could speak 1 inch away from its head at a remarkably low volume.  You could almost dictate as if you didn't want anybody else to hear you with this microphone and still get impeccable dictation results.

At the end of the day, it's all a question of acceptance and everything is moving towards the realms of speech recognition technology anyway.

Cheers

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Tiger Feet

| DNS 12 Professional | KnowBrainer 2012 | Windows 7 Professional /64 Bit | Intel Core i7 Quad Core 3840QM (2.80GHz) 8MB | 16GB RAM. | 240GB Intel 520 Series SSD Boot Drive | 750GB 7200 rpm Secondary Drive  | Plantronics Wireless Handsfree Microphone CS60-USB. |

Tiger Feet

Do you mean you're dictating quietly with a Sennheiser ME-3 with a USB pod? Or are you dictating with one of the microphones in your signature - the CS60 USB or Buddy Desktop Mic? 

Peter

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DNS Professional 12 UK English version, Windows 8 64-bit with 8 Gb RAM plus 8 Gb ReadyBoost, Audio Technica ATH-COM2 headset microphone/Buddy 7G USB sound adapter, VoicePower Ultimate. Skype user name peter.maddern www.speechempoweredcomputing.co.uk

Peter,

Yes, I am using the over the ear CS60 USB microphone as I am dictating now at an acceptable volume.  Being disabled, I have found this the most practical and reasonably accurate microphone for my situation.

The reason I brought up the Sennheiser was the extreme of having the knowledge that you had one of if not the best desktop microphones around for your purpose. 

From an able-bodied person point of view in an office, I chose the extreme because you would need to dictate 1 inch away from the head but you would almost be talking in such a low volume, that the sensitivity of that microphone would pick up easily what you would say with great accuracy.  I know this because I had one and I sold it in the end, not because I did not like it, but for practicalities. 

The Sennheiser MD 431 ll is rather a big, bulky microphone and it really needs to be positioned right in front of you so you dictate straight down its axis.  I am unfortunately disabled and use a laptop and therefore because of my lack of movement and using a laptop, I had to position the Sennheiser at an angle so as to not block out the screen because of its size. 

This is the only reason I sold it.  I can tell you though, even with it off at an angle and me speaking 12 inches away into it (which you are not supposed to do) it still was amazingly accurate but simply not practical in my case.  When you use it how you are supposed to use it, that is speaking 1 inch away from the head, it is simply the best desktop microphone if desktop microphones are your thing. 

I'm told that you can use it at busy trade fairs and the background noise doesn't interfere at all with this microphone.  Obviously, it comes with various pieces such as a 3 in 1 microphone stand, 5' extension microphone balance cable and microphone holder etc plus I used a Buddy USB 6G Sound adapter with it.  All these parts are to be put together first before using it every time.  That's fine when you have a permanent desk and you can just leave it there, but every time I'd finish dictating, I had to get my wife to take it all apart again until I used it the next time.  Again, this is not practical for me.

You can get away with speaking at a lower volume with lesser microphones than that as I have demonstrated with the Plantronics CS60 USB which I use mostly all the time now because it is over the ear and the sound element is right by my mouth so accuracy is not a problem.  I was only using the Sennheiser as an extreme example if you were worried about speaking too loudly and background noises.

I also have the ME3 headset but being disabled, I find it uncomfortable on my head but this is also an extremely accurate microphone.  The Buddy Desktop was the very first one I started off with and this again is a great desktop microphone, much smaller in bulk than the Sennheiser MD 431 ll.  I can pack the Buddy away all in one go at the end of a session that is also great for me.  There are other people in here who have the next generation of microphones and will probably give you their reports on how good they are.  The speechware 3 in 1 mic is supposed to be good.  How do you find your 6 in 1?  Surely you must rate this as a reasonable microphone to use.

It all boils down to different strokes for different folks!

Cheers

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Tiger Feet

| DNS 12 Professional | KnowBrainer 2012 | Windows 7 Professional /64 Bit | Intel Core i7 Quad Core 3840QM (2.80GHz) 8MB | 16GB RAM. | 240GB Intel 520 Series SSD Boot Drive | 750GB 7200 rpm Secondary Drive  | Plantronics Wireless Handsfree Microphone CS60-USB. |

Tiger Feet

I couldn't agree more!

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Jomark

...and some of my coworkers actually told me they found it kind of soothing hearing me talk to my computer because it has a kind of robotic quality dictating punctuation and navigation commands and such.

This is an excellent point. It's something that often gets repeated in this forum (and by savvy Dragon instructors), and probably something we take for granted. Effective dictation sounds different than conversational speech. It is not atonal or monotonous, but it is more consistent in tone than your average effective speaker. This consistency can often be a welcome (and even comforting!) thing. 

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Eric Wright At work: DNS 12 Pro. At home: DNS 11.5 Pro,  KnowBrainer 2011, and Utter Command by RedStart Systems; Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac

 

Appetite for Dictation - My Blog

Lance,

If a quadriplegic was working in an office environment in the UK and all he or she could use was speech recognition to accomplish his or her work, then I'm sure, due to the discrimination laws, that this would not be objectionable.

Quote:

Sylencer mask microphone

I am intrigued.  Does it work?  Is it what it says it is (a silencer so you cannot be heard whilst dictating)?  And what does it look like?

Where would you get one of these?  Lunis, do you sell them?  Just curious that's all.

Cheers

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andy t  



DNS 11.5 Pro, KB2011, Win 7 Ultimate/64 Bit, Inte Core2 Duo CPU  T9400  @  2.53 GHz 4.00 GB RAM. Plantronics CS60USB

 

 

The Sylencer is like an ordinary hand-held microphone but with something like an opaque oxygen mask that you press against your face when you want to speak. In that sense, it is a low-tech approach to dictation privacy. It does the trick, but it is very noticeable (one of my professors pulled me aside after class to ask me if I was okay – he thought it actually was oxygen) and you have to hold it up to your mouth while you are using it, so if you already have arm pain (for example, if you experience pain from holding a telephone) then it is certainly not something you could use for an entire dictation session, much less all day. [I do remember at the time that there was talk of a holder/frame so you could use it hands-free, but I don't know if that ever materialized.] 

Because of that, I don't actually use it for speech recognition purposes anymore. I occasionally use it with a small inexpensive voice recorder for making notes to myself privately, that I later listen to and echo-dictate or simply summarize.

I bought mine from Lunis several years ago, but I'm not sure if he still carries it.

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Core i7-2630QM 2.0 GHz, NaturallySpeaking Legal 11.5, Knowbrainer 2010, VoicePower Ultimate, The Boom O headset, Andrea USB pod. [Occasionally use: Olympus DS-5000 voice recorder, Sylencer mask microphone.]

We stopped carrying the Sylencer because for many people, it doesn't work and because we offer a 30 day customer satisfaction on everything we sell. For obvious reasons, we could not resell a microphone that quite literally fills up with saliva and requires drying out the filters. Additionally, the manufacturers of these microphones offer unusually low profit margins so between the 2 extremes… we had to discontinue offering this product line. Also note that these types of microphones are difficult to master and by their very nature, less accurate because you have to essentially limit your breathing. These types of microphones should only be used when nothing else will work such as for courtroom stenographer work.

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