Voice Recognition Software for Your Computer

Voice recognition software allows users to dictate commands into a computer with a microphone instead of a mouse or keyboard. It sounds futuristic, but the technology has been around for several years. Just recently, it has evolved and become more widespread. And while the technology still isn't all that common in the modern day home, you have more than likely encountered some type of voice recognition software at one time or another. Many companies incorporate it into their call centers, giving you simple options such as answering "Yes" or "No" or even more specific phrases. Additionally, more consumer products are equipped with voice recognition systems, including mobile phones, radios and media players.

How Voice Recognition Software Works

Without becoming too technical, voice recognition software translates your voice into a digital format that can be interpreted by a computer. By examining words and phrases and comparing them to the sound waves generated by specific utterances, the machine is able to make a pretty good determination at what the user said. Simply put, it's a process of matching patterns.

The computer has a much easier time in a system where the only options are "Yes" or "No". Things get more complex when voice recognition software has to make out larger phrases. Because individuals have different styles of speaking and accents, these programs usually have to be trained in order to specify how words are spoken by a certain user.

Voice recognition software is widely available these days, giving you the ability to eliminate typing by dictating commands into your computer. These programs are extremely beneficial to those who have a need to frequently write documents, research papers, emails, or someone that simply doesn't like typing. It also makes a good option for people with physical disabilities.

Voice Recognition Software for PCs

Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the most popular voice recognition software for personal computers. This program allows you to dictate into word processing applications, such as Corel WordPerfect or Microsoft Word, and can fully navigate through your desktop and control some of the functions of the Internet Explorer web browser. The latest version comes included with a microphone and many new features, such as support for Bluetooth-enabled wireless headsets.

Voice Recognition Software for Macs

As of now, Dragon Naturally Speaking is not available for Apple's Mac OS X systems. The premiere voice recognition software for this platform is a program called iListen. Another option you have is the Speech Recognition utility, which is integrated into newer OS X systems. Similar to the software built into Windows Vista and XP, Apple's proprietary application isn't as accurate as Dragon Naturally Speaking. Just like any program, all voice recognition software for Mac computers requires training for maximum proficiency.

Despite the improvements, there is currently no voice recognition software that comes with out-of-box perfection. This technology still has a long way to go before giving flawless dictation on words and phrases other than "yes" or "no". Although we are not quite on the level of Captain Kirk and Dr. Spock, voice recognition developers are working tirelessly to us there.