sean@cs.tamu.edu (Sean Graves) (04/02/91)
I am looking to buy some speech recognition equipment for our lab. However, I haven't found much to choose from. I am looking for: IBM PC compatibility reliability programmability decent vocabulary size contiunous speech would be nice The two systems I have received information on are by Covox ($220) and TI ($1800 or $1170 with educational discount). The TI system came out in 1985 and TI support is suspect, so I am not too excited about it. I am sure that there are other good systems out there, but have not found them. There is a nice one for the Mac called Voice Navigator, but it is not available for the PC. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance -- Sean Graves Research Assistant Texas A&M University
harper@convex.com (David Harper) (04/03/91)
In article <13993@helios.TAMU.EDU> sean@cs.tamu.edu (Sean Graves) writes: > >I am looking to buy some speech recognition equipment for our lab. However, >I haven't found much to choose from. I am looking for: > > IBM PC compatibility > reliability > programmability > decent vocabulary size > contiunous speech would be nice > > >The two systems I have received information on are by Covox ($220) and >TI ($1800 or $1170 with educational discount). The TI system came out >in 1985 and TI support is suspect, so I am not too excited about it. There are several systems available that fall into the area you are interested in. I have one such system that I am using as part of a home control system. It is the IntroVoice VI and is manufactured by: Voice Connection 17835 Skypark Circle, Suite C Irvine CA 92714 (714) 261-2366 This is a small board which will plug into any 8 bit PC slot. It will work okay on an XT but you will get faster performance on an AT. It is fairly reliable - I get in the 95%+ range if I speak distinctly into the microphone. It comes with a range of programs which will allow you to train a vocabulary and check its accuracy. It can be set up to invoke vocabulary levels; for example, you might have 10 words in a top level vocabulary but each of those words will invoke a new vocabulary so that it seems like you are stepping through menu levels. The nice thing about this approach is that it limits the number of words in a given vocabulary and consequently increases the recognition accuracy. It is not a continuous speech recognizer - it works only with short words or phrases. It does have a voice output, although the text to speech does sound somewhat robotic (something which is not all that uncommon). An additional program which comes with it will stay resident and will "stuff" the keyboard buffer with user defined keystrokes for various vocabulary words. This will allow the unit to work with any existing program which expects its input from the keyboard. Cost for this unit (as of a couple of years ago) was $795. You might also check the trade magazines for ads. In particular, there is one magazine called Speech Technology which is quite popular. I used to subscribe to it but don't anymore so I can't give you an address. It should be available at any big library, however. Dave Harper - Convex Computer Corp. E-mail address: 3000 Waterview Pky. Richardson, TX 75081 harper@convex.COM (214) 497-4525 (W) (214) 727-4206 (H)
hdrw@ibmpcug.co.uk (Howard Winter) (04/05/91)
(Request for info about speech recognition) The state of the art in speech recognition is pretty basic at present. The only reasonably priced systems have to be 'trained' to the voice/ words of the speaker, and have very limited vocabulary. They are unable to understand continuous speech and have a less-than-perfect success rate on single words. The reason for this is that speech is very complex, and it is now recognised that Artificial Intelligence is needed to get any further, since humans understand speech in the most part by context - try listening to a conversation between people with a strog foreign accent - until you have 'tuned' your brain to their pronunciation, it is difficult to catch anything of what they are saying. Sorry to be negative about this, but your expectations outstrip the capabilities currently achieved - language translation has also come up against a 'wall' in technology. They'll get there one day, but don't expect it soon, cheap, or infallible. Regards, Howard. -- Automatic Disclaimer: The views expressed above are those of the author alone and may not represent the views of the IBM PC User Group. -- hdrw@ibmpcug.Co.UK Howard Winter 0W21' 51N43'
harper@convex.com (David Harper) (04/11/91)
In a previous response to this thread I mentioned a magazine called Speech Technology. I finally tracked down the details on it: Speech Technology Magazine Published quarterly by: Media Dimensions, Inc. 42 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010 (212) 533-7481 Subscription rates: $65/yr. The current issue (which they just sent me a free copy of - I let my subscription lapse some time back) contains a list of most companys that are in this business, their address and phone number, and the particular areas of specialization. It's an expensive subscription, but then most speech recognition systems are as well, and it just might keep you from making an expensive mistake. Dave Harper - Convex Computer Corp. E-mail address: 3000 Waterview Pky. Richardson, TX 75081 harper@convex.COM (214) 497-4525 (W) (214) 727-4206 (H)