Good Cross-Platform Speech-Recognition Programs?

CryoStasis writes "I am a graduate student getting my degree in biomedical sciences. Because my work often requires me to maintain a local sterile environment (under a biological hood) I find that I am unable to physically touch my computer, which sits beside me, in order to open my notes, protocols, etc. while I'm working. As a result, I have begun to search for a voice-recognition program that will allow me to tell the computer what files/programs to launch. I know that the general field of voice recognition has come a long way, but I find that the built-in speech recognition systems in both OS X and Vista are clunky and difficult to use. Are there any good, cross-platform speech-recognition programs available that might fit the bill?"

Comments

Paper

[DebateG]

I work in a biological lab and have a similar problem. I find that paper is much simpler for most things. I have a notebook containing only printouts of protocols with little tabs denoting where each one is. I remove whatever protocol I'm using and carry it over to wherever I'm working. Anything else I need from my notes, I write on paper and carry. Yes, it's a bit wasteful, but I've found that in the preparation of gathering all the relevant pieces of paper, it really forces you to adequately prepare for an experiment instead of trying to figure it out on the fly.

depends...

[girlintraining]

Yes, software exists. But most likely unless the program only performs simple operations with dialog boxes and can function with only limited keyboard input, you will probably find it inadequate or klunky, even if the speech recognition is perfect (it never is). Instead of asking whether speech synthesis software is right for you, the better question would be is your software a good fit for speech synthesis?

Alternatives

[ustolemyname]

Wireless keyboard much?

More on Dragon Systems

[bdwoolman]

Dragon Systems is by far the best speech to text resource. I use 9.0, but 10.0 is out. And by all accounts it is better. Like all good tools that have power and flexibility Dragon takes some time to master. But it is intelligent and repays hard work by improving. Suggest you get Dragon Preferred or, at a minimum, Pro. With these you can also make audio notes on a stand-alone recorder which may be fed in to the program later for transcription. If the audio is good (use a headset) the results are very good. Of course it needs an editing treatment, but what draft does not? So, you could make notes in addition to controlling the computer.

I suggest you practice at some time when your hands are not busy playing with the Andromeda Strain. And if you get skilled with Dragon you can swap modes; that is, speech to text or control mode.

The hard truth is this: Speech to text is something you have to learn how to do. Even if the program is perfect there is a learning curve for verbally inserting punctuation. And for writing with your voice. Nine has a feature to do punctuation automatically, but it works as poorly as most stenographers. In another life I used to dictate to a secretary who took shorthand. Even with her I interposed punctuation. And I can tell you...It really took me some time to learn her curves. Drum Roll Please

Wrong question

[Vornzog]

You don't want voice recognition. You want basic planning and lab book management skills.

You should be asking "Why didn't I get all of my protocols, reagents, samples, and equipment set up before I started my experiments for the day?"

I did quite a bit of biochemical benchwork to get my PhD, involving flu. Touching almost anything was either a bad idea for your health, or a worse idea for your experiment.

Instead, you laid out a plan for what experiments you were going to do for the day. You wrote it up in your notebook before you started. If you were doing a standard experiment, you probably had an easy excel template where you typed in the number of replicate experiments you wanted to run, and it did all of your calculations for you. Print it out, tape it in your notebook, grab all your samples and reagents from the freezer, and then (and *only* then) did you put on your gloves and go into the sterile hood.

My old lab book is *full* of these little protocols, usually with a typed note at the bottom about which samples I wanted to run, and a few hand written notes from after I took my gloves off.

For long, complex protocols, lay out a protocol book with step by step instructions. For really sensitive experiments, don't be afraid to change gloves after you flip the page. Gloves are cheap, compared to the reagents needed to run even a single PCR reaction.

A good craftsman has laid out all of his tools, plans and materials before he starts work. Good chefs have all their ingredients measured and utensils easily accessible before they start cooking. Either one *could* use a computer to track their project. But they don't, because it just makes everything more complicated.

Use a computer for planning, data storage, analysis, etc. Once you put the gloves on, good notebook skills put the computer to shame every time.