Nuance Releases Version 11 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Nuance Communications today released a new version of its popular dictation software, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which it says offers improved speech technology capabilities.

In particular, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 11 seeks to further improve both speed and accuracy using a more intuitively constructed interface. In addition to basic dictation, users can send email, search the Web, and send Facebook and Twitter updates. Dragon’s mobile applications can also be used on BlackBerry and Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices.

Because Dragon 11 can recognize more speech right away, at a rate of 15 percent higher than the previous version, the company asserts that users won’t need to expend as much energy correcting mistakes. The system also uses shortcuts and voice commands for opening applications or searching the Internet, which Nuance says will consolidate user actions, creating a more fluid way of moving between tasks.

“Beyond the core engine improvements, the most significant effort in Dragon 11 was the focus on usability,” says Peter Mahoney, senior vice president and general manager of the Dragon product line. “Dragon 11 significantly improved the correction process with the newly designed correction menu. We also went further and included new technology that analyzes keyboard input and includes the benefit of any keyboard corrections into the user profile. The Dragon Sidebar is a completely new user interface element that is designed to intelligently display the most appropriate commands that the user can say.”

The company also says the minimum reading time for training Dragon to create transcriptions using a recorder has been reduced from 15 minutes to four minutes. Furthermore, the new version is compatible with Microsoft Office 2010, supporting OpenOffice Writer with correction, selection, dictation, and playback. Users will also be able to use their netbooks with the software because of the new interface available.

While some comments have been made about problems with the software’s punctuation accuracy, Mahoney says “This area of functionality (punctuation) is very complex. As we collect more data, we will improve its robustness in future releases. It does work well for many clients today.”