speech to text

[sebjo]

Hi

I am looking for a program which can convert my voice recordings into text. There are different scenarios I could think of:
-My voice recording files are exported from my voice recording program and then converted on the desktop
-A special ppc voice recorder which then exports the files to the desktop to be converted
-A program which converts the files directly on the ppc (probably does not yet exist)

Can anyone recomend a program?

Thanks,
Seb

[OSUKid7]

Dragon NaturallySpeaking (http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/) has a Pocket PC app.MOBILE
Be productive on-the-go! Import recordings from any ScanSoft-certified handheld recorder or Pocket PC for automatic transcription.

[Pony99CA]

Dragon NaturallySpeaking (http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/) has a Pocket PC app.MOBILE
Be productive on-the-go! Import recordings from any ScanSoft-certified handheld recorder or Pocket PC for automatic transcription.
Hmmm, that sounds cool, but you left out part of the feature.

Import recordings from any ScanSoft-certified Pocket PC or digital handheld recorder for automatic transcription when you synch with your PC.
So I wonder if it really has a Pocket PC application or if they just take voice recordings made by Notes and transcribe them during synchronization. I also wonder what a "ScanSoft-certified Pocket PC" is.

A search of their knowledge base (http://knowledgebase.scansoft.com/view.asp?tnID=4998&sQuery=Pocket%20PC) turned up a little information, but not much. They do seem to have their own voice recorder software, but only seem to support iPAQs running Pocket PC 2000 or 2002. :-(

Steve

[OSUKid7]

Dragon NaturallySpeaking (http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/) has a Pocket PC app.MOBILE
Be productive on-the-go! Import recordings from any ScanSoft-certified handheld recorder or Pocket PC for automatic transcription.
Hmmm, that sounds cool, but you left out part of the feature.Ah, yeah, just remembered the Dragon NaturallySpeaking name from years ago. Not sure if it's true text-to-speech on the Pocket PC.

[Blue Zero]

...Trust me, I've try one of these program few years ago (Not this brand), and they dont work as it intends :evil:

[Pony99CA]

...Trust me, I've try one of these program few years ago (Not this brand), and they dont work as it intends :evil:
So you used a different product years ago and assume this one won't work now? Technology changes, you know. Years ago, people would have said Pocket PCs (then called Palm-Size PCs) didn't work well, either.

That said, speech recognition is one of the more difficult tasks a computer can do. The human brain is good at pattern recognition; computers aren't. So it wouldn't surprise me if software like this still wasn't very good. Programs may work decently in a limited domain (like program menu commands), but recognizing arbitrary sentences is much more difficult.

For example, if I said, "He's plays first bass" (in the orchestra), how would the computer distinguish that from "He plays first base" (in a baseball game)? If it gets either of those right, the program would be pretty good, but only with enough context could is distinguish between the two.

Even figuring where one word ends and another starts is difficult. Humans don't pause between words, so there's no space like there would be converting text to speech.

Steve

[OSUKid7]

few years agohmm, a lot has changed since a few years ago
(Not this brand)then how are you able to give any comparison?

but seriously...progress takes time. Look where we were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago. You're not gonna just wake up some day and instantly have perfect speech recognition. Humans don't even have that. :lol: Companies are working in it, and the best they can do is continually work to improve. Believe me, people (maybe you?) would be complaining if companies didn't release intermediate versions of their products between nothing and perfect recognition.

[sebjo]

Thanks for the info so far. I am anticipating the technology to make errors on occasion, given the complexity of the task, but thats ok with me for now since I just need it for personal reference.
I will look into dragon naturally speaking. Any other suggestions would be great.
Since programs don't sem to transcribe on the ppc directly I guess a software that only runs on the desktop which transcribes my imported wavs or mp3s from my voice recording program will do the job.
Any experiences to share??
Seb

[Blue Zero]

Technology changes, you know. Years ago, people would have said Pocket PCs (then called Palm-Size PCs) didn't work well, either.


The human brain is good at pattern recognition; computers aren't. So it wouldn't surprise me if software like this still wasn't very good.

You are contradicting your own words... geez

And to top it off, I wasnt even assuming anything, I merely expressed my own experience from the past. People here really need to lighten up for once.

[Blue Zero]

then how are you able to give any comparison?


Again, I am not comparing any such product here
I try couple of the related software, and they fail to impress me, thats the message I am sending out. Thats it.

lighten up people

[Pony99CA]

Technology changes, you know. Years ago, people would have said Pocket PCs (then called Palm-Size PCs) didn't work well, either.


The human brain is good at pattern recognition; computers aren't. So it wouldn't surprise me if software like this still wasn't very good.
You are contradicting your own words... geez
No, I'm not contradicting myself. I'm saying that your opinion of software used years ago (and a different brand at that) may not be relevant today. Things have improved.

I'm also saying that, given the nature of the task, they may not be that good yet. They may also be good for what they attempt to do -- I haven't tried speech recognition in years, so I have no idea.

And to top it off, I wasnt even assuming anything, I merely expressed my own experience from the past. People here really need to lighten up for once.
I don't believe that I ever said you assumed anything.

Here's what you said:

...Trust me, I've try one of these program few years ago (Not this brand), and they dont work as it intends
"They" is plural, which makes it sound like you're talking about more than one program, or even the technology in general. "Don't work" is present tense, which makes it sound like you're saying they still don't work.

To top it off, you tell people to trust you based on old experience with a different program. Why trust you if you don't have recent experience? It's like somebody asking about a Ford and you say "I drove a Chevy years ago, and it sucked." Who cares?

But you go ahead and blame us for not being "light" enough. :roll:

Steve

[Jonathon Watkins]

I try couple of the related software, and they fail to impress me, thats the message I am sending out.

I have to agree Blue Zero. I've tried a fair few TtS apps over the years and I'm not impressed at all. Still a way to go there till they are decent. Unless anyone knows of any good new TtS software out there?