Re: PC Speech Recognition

[Chris Hunter <cjhunter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Phil Harris wrote:

>>as part of our set-up, some VR would be useful ... as when
>>hands are full or mucky, when switches are on the other side
>>of the room, and when simple acknowledgements are required ...
>>
>>Looking into it, though, identifies several issues likely to
>>limit its effectiveness
>>
>>
>
>Looking into it how deeply?
>
enough to work-out how far we should go & what appraoch we should take
(what to rely on it for)

>>- the vast range of people's accents
>>& manners of speaking;
>>
>>
>
>Which - in the case of strong regional accents - can be got around by
>teaching the applications initially assuming that they support such
>functionality.
>
we don't want to subject guests to a training programme whe the arrive !

>>the complications of room acoustics & noise levels;
>>hardware fidelity / quality;
>>
>>
>
>Which can be got around on the whole by use of appropriate microphones
and
>audio processing hardware before it hits the PC...
>
>
yep ...

>and our very limited understanding of how
>language actually works & words are actually used
>
>
>
>Are you saying that we don't understand how language works? I think we
>generally do as we use it every day quite sucessfully.
>
yes, but in the sense that when it comes to programming a computer to do
what we do it's nigh on impossible to do, because the rules aren't
really defined ... vocab' & grammar isn't enough

>I assume you mean the ability to translate our own abilities to
manipulate
>and use language into computer programs? In that case then there isn't
a
>need for computers to be able to process free form language fully in
this
>instance. For VR in a HA environment you want to be sure that you
"wake up"
>or otherwise prepare your system for a command with a known phrase or
sound
>/ action and then give a brief and unambiguous instruction.
>
yes ... carefully containing the context would seem to be essential ...

>I wouldn't want a VR system to be randomly "listening in" to
what was going
>on in the house (or perhaps what was being said in a TV program) and
trying
>to understand it and what parts of it might be sensible as instructions
for
>it ... You generally want the range of understanding of any VR system
to be
>tightly controlled and that makes the software writers job much easier
too!
>
>
yes, agree competely !

>...  all in
>all, there's still a long way to go !
>
>
>
>Not as far as you may believe ... However it might be a while before
you can
>afford to do the job properly for the kind of budget you're looking at
if
>your target market is the IBM ViaVoice ballpark.
>
yep ...

>We're going for Idratek,
>
>
>
>Really? I'd never have known... ;-)
>
Well, there you go !

>and VR is an option on offer ...
>perhaps with IBM ViaVoice, although I've never heard of a
>user who doen't express a lot of reservations about its
>capabilities, presumably because of the very same issues ...
>
>
>
>Perhaps find out the issues they have rather than presuming what they
might
>be?
>
thanks !

>> From what I've seen of regular computer sound,
>>
>>
>
>OK - I won't take the p*ss here...
>
... ...

>>the quality
>>of the hardware leaves a lot to be desired ...
>>
>>
>
>What do you mean by "the quality of the hardware leaves a lot to
be
>desired"?
>
>The are some excellent audio output cards available for PC if you need
high
>quality output and in the case of input (which is more relevent here)
then
>there are all manner of quality solutions at prices ranging from the
merely
>eyebrow-lifting to the criminally insane. If you wish you can even do
all
>the analogue to digital and digital to analogue conversion away from
the PC
>and simply feed bitsreams of audio in or out so I don't see what is to
be
>desired - perhaps you simply mean at the budget you are willing to
spend?
>
of course there are, but that's not what people are generally using ...

>>and yet we
>>know from our own experience that when sounds are clear they
>>are much easier to hear & understand, even if they are quiet
>>... the same must surely go for VR
>>
>>
>
>Yes ... If you can feed a PC running a VR solution a good clean audio
source
>then it will work better.
>
>
... ...

>!   BTW, I've never heard of VR using stereo, and yet we know
>it makes a
>big difference to our own ability to hear & understand sounds ...
>
>
>
>No - hearing in stereo does *NOT* make "a big difference to our
own ability
>to hear and understand sounds" - it allows us to *LOCATE* the
source of
>sounds more easily and hence, in the past, know which direction lunch
(or
>something that we might be lunch for) is coming from or nowadays know
where
>the truck is even though we can't see it or enjoy the sound of being in
the
>middle of a movie gunbattle.
>
location is part of it, but distinguishing is more the point here ...

>Feeding a VR system a stereo source will open up a whole new can of
worms as
>then your VR stystem will be presented with much more in the way of
echoes
>and out of sync audio to deal with and process out...
>
>Phil
>



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