It's here! It's here! Really: right here, right now. I ordered a voice recognition software program for my computer, it arrived, it's operational, and I'm using it right this very minute.
Instead of typing on my computer keyboard, I'm talking into a headset microphone. As I do, the words appear on the screen – more or less as I have said them. "More or less" is the operative phrase here: the system is still getting used to my voice, and word mix-up is still rampant.
(I had planned to publish this post, warts and all, exactly as it showed up on the screen without any corrections. However, there are already so many errors that I can't figure out with the first two paragraphs really say – and I wrote 'em…. So overriding corrections are definitely required.)
The good news though is that this system actually learns. It adds vocabulary, adjusts to my pronunciation and inflection, and becomes more accurate with every use.
The question is, will I actually learn?
First, I have to learn to stop random vocalizations. Um, er, phooey, and oh crap, even if spoken sotto voce, have the nasty habit of showing up on screen, not only demonstrating bad habits and "speaker's block" but playing havoc with what I'm really trying to say. Second, I have to learn all the verbal commands when to say them, and how. Sometimes I say "delete," and the word delete appears; sometimes I say "delete," and any random word will disappear. Sometimes I can't remember the commands at all, so I and up working way too much with the mouse and the keyboard.
But I'm already getting better, and my new Dragon is too. Already, even with all my stopping and going and all my needed corrections, this is much easier and much faster than one-handed hunt and peck. Plus, it validates my tendency to talk aloud to inanimate objects: I can holler at my computer and get away with it.
