Speech Recognition

Speech recognition is the capability of an electronic device to understand spoken words. A microphone records a person's voice and the hardware converts the signal from analog sound waves to digital audio. The audio data is then processed by software, which interprets the sound as individual words.

A common type of speech recognition is "speech-to-text" or "dictation" software, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, which outputs text as you speak. While you can buy speech recognition programs, modern versions of the Macintosh and Windows operating systems include a built-in dictation feature. This capability allows you to record text as well as perform basic system commands.

In Windows, some programs support speech recognition automatically while others do not. You can enable speech recognition for all applications by selecting All Programs → Accessories → Ease of Access → Windows Speech Recognition and clicking "Enable dictation everywhere." In OS X, you can enable dictation in the "Dictation & Speech" system preference pane. Simply check the "On" button next to Dictation to turn on the speech-to-text capability. To start dictating in a supported program, select Edit → Start Dictation. You can also view and edit spoken commands in OS X by opening the "Accessibility" system preference pane and selecting "Speakable Items."

Another type of speech recognition is interactive speech, which is common on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Both iOS and Android devices allow you to speak to your phone and receive a verbal response. The iOS version is called "Siri," and serves as a personal assistant. You can ask Siri to save a reminder on your phone, tell you the weather forecast, give you directions, or answer many other questions. This type of speech recognition is considered a natural user interface (or NUI), since it responds naturally to your spoken input.

While many speech recognition systems only support English, some speech recognition software supports multiple languages. This requires a unique dictionary for each language and extra algorithms to understand and process different accents. Some dictation systems, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, can be trained to understand your voice and will adapt over time to understand you more accurately.