Speech recognition

[Derek Broughton]

Dotan Cohen wrote:

> 2008/7/3 David Fletcher <kubuntu-users at thefletchers.net>:
>> I suspect this is a long shot:-
>>
>> Does anybody know of any speech recognition software that can be used
>> with Kubuntu?
>>
>> I have an acquaintance who has never owned a computer, but wants to use
>> one to write a book. He can be nudged in the direction of using Kubuntu
>> and LaTeX I think, but he says he's not got time to type it. He wants to
>> dictate it directly into the text editor.
>>
>> Does anybody know of any applications that can do this please? I've tried
>> all the search strings I can think of in the Adept installer, and Google
>> has turned up nothing for me.
> 
> He wants a secretary, not a computer. Speech recognition is used for
> sending preconfigured commands to the computer, not for dictating
> arbitrary text.

With current state of the art, it _should_ be possible to dictate reasonably
arbitrary text, but I really can't see how anybody who can't take the time
to _write_ a book, will ever get a book written.

> For instance, while your friend might dictate one 
> character discussing a new display with another character, the reader
> might be surprised to see the characters discussing a nudist play.

Right.  Just like OCR, however accurate it is, you'll spend a lot of time
fixing the transcription errors.
-- 
derek