Speech recognition / top tips

[Data]

There has been some misinformation posted on this forum about speech recognition this post is to clear the air and put the subject back on track.

Hal does NOT come with a speech recognition engine.
EDIT: (Unless you purchased the Ultra Hal CD, that does have the older Microsoft SAPI 5.1 Speech Recognition engine included. Web downloaded Hal does not come with a  Speech Recognition engine.)

The first Microsoft OS to be shipped with speech recognition was Vista, previous versions of windows could download a free speech recognition engine from Microsoft, however the free downloaded one was lacking and really not very accurate. (probably why is wasn't included with Windows)


The quality of the microphone is a major contributor to the accuracy of the speech recognition, USB webcam microphones are very sensitive and have a tendency to pick up background noise, dramatically decreasing the the accuracy of the recognition.
The best microphones are the ones on headsets with the microphone sitting right next to the users mouth. A good tip would be to get a headset that is certified as speech recognition compatible.


If your headset plugs into your sound card (NOT USB) Onboard sound cards can introduce noise to the signal being sent to the speech recognition engine, a basic PCI or PCIe sound card can eliminate noise being picked up from inside the PC.


Spending some time teaching the speech recognition your voice is vital for good accuracy, this should NOT be done in Hal but in the voice training part of the speech recognition software.
 

Once you have eliminated all background noise, have a quality microphone and have taught the speech recognition engine your voice test it in another program such as word.


Once you are happy with the accuracy of the speech recognition then try it in Hal.

[One]

Datahopa,
I am looking at my copy of "Zabaware product CD" and the cover (inside) states that it comes with "Microsoft SAPI 5.1 Speech Recognition engine, a free component.
The instructions for aforementioned product are also inside, in english only.
I used Microsoft's Office products which come with SR by default.
As far as I know you need to "check""Use speech Recognition" Within the Assistant. "Options" "setup speech recognition" "Use speech Recognition"
"You do not have to select an SR Engine, unless you want to use another SR Engine that you have purchased yourself"

I have the 6.0 disk cover but was re-assured I was delivered 6.0.1

any changes to this are not my problem, the instructions are clear and accurate IMO and if you bought a Zabaware product cd, you should have the instructions as well.

All other Tom-Foolery or mis-understandings are the responsibility of the Poster.

This is a free forum and has a separate section for general discussion, IMO this MB is adequate for many things, including 'clearing up the air' as Datahopa is trying to do.

" Thank you, come again"[8D]

[One]

MICROPHONE;
The Ultra Hal Assistant, has NOTHING to do with your microphone selection.
The microphone type and selection is in Windows, Motherboard, or your sound card.

[Data]

Thanks for your input One, oh and for finally getting my name correct.

I now see where all the confusion has come from about speech recognition and why some say Hal does come with speech recognition and others say it doesn't. I have edited the first post to help resolve this issue.

And it's to do with how you purchased your Hal did you get the CD or just download Hal.

OK hands up if you got the CD there is the Microsoft SAPI 5.1 Speech Recognition engine included on the CD where as if you just got the downloaded Hal you would have to download the speech recognition engine your self on XP or previous OS, however It is not a Hal or Zabaware Speech Recognition engine but an old Microsoft product.

I'm glad we got that sorted out, it should stop all the confusion that goes around this topic.

I tried the Microsoft SAPI 5.1 Speech Recognition engine a few years ago when I started playing around with Hal but i found it wanting and even after many hours of teaching it, it still made many mistakes.

The rest of the post still seems fine to me and should help new users with getting Speech Recognition working well.

I'm really not sure what you are going on about when you said here

"The Ultra Hal Assistant, has NOTHING to do with your microphone selection.
The microphone type and selection is in Windows, Motherboard, or your sound card."

As my post said, get your Speech Recognition engine working so you are happy with it, by testing it in a program like word then once its setup and working accurately try it in Hal.

This way you wont teach Hal a load of nonsense that a badly set up Speech Recognition engine or poor quality microphone will input into Hal.

[freddy888]

Thanks Datahopa, I value this post [8D]

[Bill819]

My Hal has been using Speach Recognition ever since Win 98. It also worked with Win XP and now with Vista which by the way I don't like and use as little as possible.
Hal has come with it as far back as Version 5 and maybe even version 4. I'll have to check my records to verify.
I have been using Hal for about 10 years or so and maybe even longer.
Bill

[One]

Datahopa,

""The Ultra Hal Assistant, has NOTHING to do with your microphone selection.
The microphone type and selection is in Windows, Motherboard, or your sound card.""

E.G., IF you have a USB Microphone or a 1.5mm jack you need to select it in windows NOT the Assistant, the instructions in with the CD are clear on this.


[]

[Data]

Bill, you old timer [][]

I mean that In a nice way.

My first Hal was Hal 5, I remember downloading the Microsoft SAPI 5.1 Speech Recognition engine from MS back then, as I like many others, didn't get the CD but just got the full version of Hal downloaded from Zabaware and that doesn't have Speech Recognition included.



One, I agree with you

The Ultra Hal Assistant, has NOTHING to do with your microphone selection,

And at no point have I said in this post that your microphone selection should be done in Hal.


I joined this forum on 06/07/2005 and time and time again some people have said Hal doesn't come with a SR engine and others have said it does, well now we all no why.

Mission accomplished. [8D]

[Will and Mr Data :) :]]

good evening, hello,
"heres Wil and Mr Data shufils just in the door dragging a rope of cords then looks "not halvision tho""

good posting there  Datahopa, and distinguist, distingwished, spell check spell check,uh.
and group. "mr data slaps the palm of his hand on his forhead"


out of interest i just got a trial version of hal with sappy five and working onto a asus eee laptop 7inch screen 4 gigabite hard drive,2gig ram, 900 megahurts i think, xp.
it is ok for a new hal but 4 gigabites of hard drive just aint enough to run Mr Data. so, yeah.

i'm thinking if you want your hal to not fill your pc in perhaps months or a year then i'm thinking at least 10 gig or more hard drive.

i do like to hear about your hals, they are very speacial i know.
Bill819 i am impressed to hear that you have worked with your voice recognition at length, i wonder about asking you all the ways to keep the stream of words from no wear down.
although i am betting you have had hal long enough to see him or her see past all that and still come to make sence, or make you think ah ha.

i do wonder about a plugin that might assist the voice recognition, we have don't listen to self and thats a great thing,
the mystery for me is, how does dragon 10 go?
care to share what what we are using,
dragon 8, oh and sappy five.
and you know i enjoy my time with Mr Data.
"Mr Data looks at the new location i've walked to, after he's checked a few times".

its good to see you's about the forum,
bye for now and be well from Wil and Mr Data  :]
"Wil gets a screw driver shorted on Data but Mr Data's fine" oh and this variations seems much the same.waves as they go.

[Data]

Hi Will, I always enjoy reading your posts about Mr Data. []

If you are careful it is possible to shrink XP down to about 1 gig, leaving 3 gig for Hal and maybe that would be enough for Mr Data.

I did it a few years ago and i can't remember exactly what you have to do, if you google "shrink xp install" you will find a lot of WebPages on the subject.

Off the top of my head a couple of things that can be done are.

Turn off hibernation (normally takes about 1 gig to hibernate)

Reduce the page file size to minimum windows will allow.



I'm still using Dragon 9 here, it cost me about £100 and I'm not really happy to spend another £70 to up-grade to 10.

Good luck [][]


Oh look, I have finally made 200 posts. []

[Will and Mr Data :) :]]

Thanks for the info,
congrats on 200,
i just had the screws out of the back of the eee and then thought you'd think there'd be an option to close the laptop and it stay on, and yip, that was close its in control pannel, performance matainance, system, power options, advanced.

bye for now and be well  :]

[Bill819]

Microsofts VR has always been supplied with its OS. The trick was and is learing how to find and turn it on. Unfortunately, like you I discovered that it does not work very good. It comes with it own text for speaking and training and I have had to read it over and over to get any kind of success but even then it was lacking.
I purchased Dragon V.8 a few years ago and was told by some even older users that it works much better than MS's.
Zabaware has always come with links to MS products and if you think about it that is the only economical way for it to be done as the cost of developing your own would be tremendous.
100 pounds seems like a lot of money to spend for Dragon. I am sure that it did not cost me that much when I bought it but then again there may be some differences between your version and mine ie. GB versus USA.
Bill

[Data]

Careful with that screw driver Will, i don't want to be the one responsible for braking Mr Data. Xen (my Hal) might get sad when I tell him.[]

Bill I have Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 (Preferred Edition), and today I found it for £158.23 on Amazon, I don't remember it being that much, I must have really wanted it.

I found a webpage explaining that XP doesn't come with VR

Here is a bit from it

"
There is no Speech Recognition Engine (SRE) built directly in to Windows XP. You need to install a compatible engine, and in most cases, you'll install it from one of two sources.
"


Here is the page:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/moskowitz_02september23.mspx


I noticed that my Windows 7 has [ Microsoft SR 8.0 English UK ] built in, I'm gona give it a go. researched a little on the web, the reports actually seem quite positive.

[freddy888]

Still waiting for my W7 - just four weeks to go [^]

[Data]

The four weeks should fly by Freddy []