1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

Convert voice file to text?

Discussion in 'Other PC Software' started by PeteC, 2004/08/18.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. 2004/08/18
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    A friend of mine is visually impaired and would like to be able to dictate notes, articles, etc into a PC enabled digital dictation m/c such as one of the Olympus digital voice recorders and then have the PC make a text print out.

    Does anyone know of any software which might achieve this?

    An alternative would be to play the recording directly into a mic and let Dragon Naturally Speaking do the rest. Anyone any experience of this?

    Any other suggestions?
     
    PeteC,
    #1
  2. 2004/08/18
    picard

    picard Inactive

    Joined:
    2003/05/28
    Messages:
    158
    Likes Received:
    0
    picard,
    #2


  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2004/08/18
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    5,643
    Likes Received:
    0
    PeteC--When I first bought a PC (not so long ago) I had expected that a voice recognition program would come along shortly so I could just speak commands, type letters, etc. Well, that seems not to have happened with any high degree of accuracy. Dragon and ViaVoice seem the best of a mediocre lot.
    However, fortunately, I am not handicapped, just lazy. So no experience. And if there is no other way of accessing the Internet, creating word documents, etc., perhaps the mediocre is better than nothing.
    Have you looked into Googling? For example here is the result of one search
    http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q="voice+recognition"++reviews
    But obviously you and your friend are looking for someone with actual experience.
    Have you considered talking with groups that help the visually impaired?
     
    Welshjim,
    #3
  5. 2004/08/18
    Paul

    Paul Inactive

    Joined:
    2002/01/29
    Messages:
    1,293
    Likes Received:
    1
    Pete,
    Office XP (2002) has a speech dictating programme in it. Similar to Dragon, but probably not in the same league? I messed with this a year or so ago, and whilst it's not that accurate, it does have the ability to "learn ", and with practice is almost useable. I don't know if MS have included it in Office 2003?
    It's certainly worth experimenting with.
     
    Paul,
    #4
  6. 2004/08/19
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/05/10
    Messages:
    28,896
    Likes Received:
    389
    Thank you all for your responses on this....

    My friend has spoken with groups that help the visually impaired and their recommendation was to purchase Dragon Speaking Naturally. We ordered this yesterday, but all programs of that ilk require you to be sat in front of - or close to the PC to use them. That's fine up to a point, but the ability to dictate into a portable digital recorder - anywhere - and convert the recordng into text would be a real bonus.

    He noted the availability of PC enabled dictation m/c's as I originally posted, but the info on their web sites is far from helpful. As far as I can see the voice file can be transferred to the PC via a USB connection and obviously can be played back.

    I was wondering if anyone was aware of software which would convert a voice file into text on the screen from whence it could be printed out. Rather a long shot I suspect, but simply playing the recorder into the PC mic or plugging it into the sound input socket might do the trick.

    While we are on this subject - and I have yet to start searching - does anyone know of a good screen reader? The groups to which he has spoken have recommended software, but the cost is prohibitive, ranging from £700 to £1000 !!!

    We tried XP's narrator - this is a joke and doesn't appear to be capable of reading Word (2000) docs. The 'Read Out Loud' facility in Acrobat Reader works fine for pdf files - assuming you can stomach Microsoft Sam, but I think you can sownload other 'voices'.

    Any thoughts greatly appreciated by both of us.
     
    PeteC,
    #5
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...