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Recorded Speech to Text Software?
shfted! asks: "Recently, I've been given the task of transcribing several dozen audio tapes of interviews to typed word, that is, listening for 10 seconds, write what was said, repeat. At around 4 hours per hour long tape, I would like to automate the process somehow. Recording the tape into the computer is no problem, but I need some software that will do the speech recognition accurately more than quickly -- several hours per tape is not an issue (I have access to several machines running 24/7). I will still have to go over the computer's work to correct any mistakes. A free solution for Linux would be best, non-free and Windows solutions are okay, but a working solution is highest priority. Can anyone point me in the right direction(s)?"
Court reporters do this kind of thing for a living and some (all?) are contract workers. They can do it in real time and would probably be quite happy to be able to do it all at home rather than in a deposition room or court room. Oh, and their accuracy would be a lot higher than if you did it yourself without checking or if you hired a student to do it.
Though a tech solution would be cool...
If your hours of tape are something that has to be transcribed accurately, don't waste your time trying to do it with a computer.
A person who does transcription for a living will do it faster, probably cheaper, and will be able to handle all of the quirks of human speech that will gum up the works of a voice to text program.
There are still places where a machine cannot match the quality of a real live person.
Three Squirrels