» Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Julie’s Journal

Oct

I want to tell you guys about this really cool software that I got a chance to try called Dragon Naturally Speaking. It’s speech recognition software that can be used in all types of situations. All you need is a noise canceling head set with a microphone and you can speak whatever it is you want to display in text with the software.

As you can imagine this can be used in a variety of ways for a variety of people, like anyone with a disability or that has been in an accident and they don’t have movement in their arms or hands, or they are on restricted bed rest. I think it would be great for students to do their homework with also.

For instance you might have a child with an excellent vocabulary, yet they can’t type that well. Simply hook them up to Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 and watch their story come to life right there on the screen. This would be a great advantage for students with dyslexia, or special education students with other issues that prevent them from typing on a keyboard.

My friend Heather uses this software for her 95 year old father to tell all the stories of his life into the microphone, so she has them forever stored in text to share with future generations. You can use it while traveling to document your trips also.

Many types of speech recognition software have come and gone, but none of them can compete with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. With version 10, it takes about 7 minutes to configure your microphone settings and learn how to use the software. I then had to do some of the training exercises for the software to follow my speech patterns. I was having a little trouble with my words, but I chalk this up to my microphone quality not the software. If you are a Mac user, Dragon also powers Mac Speech Dicate.

To see how you measure up with the software, Take the Dragon NaturallySpeaking typing test! Also take a look at this video of someone speaking at the same speed they type. It’s so ridiculously slow, and funny. With Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 you can now type at the same speed you talk!

And here is a video of a user testing out the software with a Bluetooth headset and going completely wireless while blogging! How cool is that?