June/July 1999

Magazine Features

Computers Can Read the Writing on the Wall with Online Handwriting Recognition

Enabling computers to understand natural human input has been the goal of many manufacturers in the last decades. Extensive research has been done in both voice and handwriting recognition technologies in universities and research centers. Until 10 years ago, much of the research on handwriting recognition yielded only theoretical results. The introduction of the personal computer and PDAs has expanded the consumer market, which is now ready to acknowledge handwriting-based solutions, both in the hardware technology side and the ability of adequate online handwriting recognition technology.

Continuous Dictation: The Future of Speech Recognition

Looking into our crystal ball, what do we see for the future of computer dictation speech recognition? Allow me to make some predictions.

How Speech Makes OXYGEN

Will speech recognition be the "Oxygen" of the next generation of computing? Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology envision a world where computing devices will be as ubiquitous as oxygen.

LEGAL DICTATION: Making the Case for Legal Speech Recognition

Attorneys will have to start using their computers. Let’s face it, lawyers are struggling to stay on the cutting edge of technology today, and it is not cheap. Lawyers, usually not technical people to begin with, are finding they need to cope with time and billing systems and calendar software. They are trying to use records and case and document management software along with internal and external email. Now speech recognition is added to this list of software on which we integrate, train, and consult in the legal technology field.

NOISE CANCELLATION: Reducing Noise With Software

As speech technology continues to mature, noise is emerging as a key limiter of future performance. This magazine has often addressed noise canceling microphone hardware. Here we review the corresponding approach of noise removal processing in software.

Software-Only Vs. Embedded: Which Architecture Is Best For You?

Speech technologies have become an essential element in successful state-of-the-art computer telephony (CT) applications. The integration of automatic speech recognition (ASR) and text-to-speech (TTS) in applications greatly increases the effectiveness of interactive voice response CT for a wide range of uses.

SPEECH PROFILES: Voxware Brings Speech Recognition Into the Warehouse "Battlefield"

The recent acquisition of Verbex Voice Systems by Voxware Inc. brought Voxware’s president and CEO, Bathsheba J. Malsheen, Ph.D., back into the speech recognition field in a very big way.

SPEECH RECONNAISSANCE:

Speech has become an accepted technology in many industries and would appear, for all its problems, to have a bright future in both its short term and long term outlooks. The short term excitement is generated by upcoming industry trade shows, and in the long term, researches at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are pursuing a vision of information technology that puts speech technology at a central point for the 21st century.

Tell Me About It: Why Speech Recognition Might or Might Not Be Working For You

What’s so weird about talking to your computer? For regular readers of this magazine, probably nothing. But we have all seen, and at some time in the past, experienced, the wide range of responses to the idea of talking to a PC. For some it’s the most natural thing in the world, certainly more natural than typing on a plastic keyboard. For others, however, it’s not that simple – using speech recognition software to create documents or control a computer just feels strange. Why?

Testing the Voice Input Waters

Continuously advancing technology has enabled microphone companies to mold devices to the constantly changing needs of the end-user

VERTICAL APPLICATIONS: How "Sequence Packages" Can Aid Language Understanding

Critical patient history is often buried in the convoluted, ambiguous utterances that occur in the doctor-patient interview.

Forward Thinking

The Outlook for Voice Biometrics

Having just completed an industry report on voice biometrics, I decided to take this opportunity to talk about some things that came out of my research.