Dictation
Dictation is a quick way to generate a document by converting voice to electronic written form. When the conversion is done by computer it is called Speech Recognition software.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Dictation was once used in business to create a letter or contract by either speaking directly to a secretary that took notes, or by recording the letter in a tape recording device. The secretary would then type the letter using a typewriter. Today computers are often used to perform these tasks and many more including the writing a book or eBook. This opens the door for the physically handicapped to author a book.
[edit] Online transcribing
- https://dictation.io/ several languages are available.
- https://speechnotes.co/ speech to notes, a free service.
- https://talktyper.com/ speech to text in a browser (works with Google chrome)
- Microsoft has support in Windows 10. Simply hold down the windows key and press H. For more information see PCMag.com article
- Apple iPhones can use messenger by simply tapping the microphone icon. It is also possible to add a microphone button to the keyboard from settings. This will enable voice to text conversion in any application that uses the keyboard.
- Android has apps for this for example speech notes. You can also use a microphone with Messages.
[edit] Nuance Dragon
Nuance makes a popular but fairly expensive product called Dragon Home that can be used to dictate a document or even a book which will then be converted to text. The products begin at $150 however earlier versions can often be purchased for much less. The description of the Home product is shown below.
Get more done on your PC by voice. From students to everyday multi-taskers, there’s no better way to get more done on your PC simply by speaking than with the all-new Dragon Home version 15, the most intelligent speech recognition solution for home use. Designed using Nuance Deep Learning technology, Dragon quickly transcribes words into text 3x faster than typing with up to 99% recognition accuracy. Dictate homework assignments, send email, surf the web and more—by voice.
[edit] Dictating Punctuation and Formatting
These features are available on the Windows version but are similar to other programs. You can also issue commands to dictate punctuation and start a new paragraph. As you do with other dictation programs and apps, just speak what you need it to do. Say "period," "comma," "new line," "new paragraph," or whatever action you want to take. Note that the software is usually smart enough to know that sentences begin with a capital letter.
Here are the punctuation characters and symbols you can dictate, according to Microsoft. Note all transcribing tools support all of these keywords.
To Insert This: Say This:
- @ at symbol; at sign
- # Pound symbol; pound sign; number symbol; number sign; hash symbol; hash sign; hashtag symbol; hashtag sign; sharp symbol; sharp sign
- $ Dollar symbol; dollar sign; dollars symbol; dollars sign
- % Percent symbol; percent sign
- ^ Caret
- & And symbol; and sign; ampersand symbol; ampersand sign
- * Asterisk; times; star
- ( Open paren; left paren; open parenthesis; left parenthesis
- ) Close paren; right paren; close parenthesis; right parenthesis
- _ Underscore
- - Hyphen; dash; minus sign
- ~ Tilde
- \ Backslash; whack
- / Forward slash; divided by
- , Comma
- . Period; dot; decimal; point
- ; Semicolon
- ' Apostrophe; open single quote; begin single quote; close single quote; close single quote; end single quote
- = Equal symbol; equal sign; equals symbol; equal sign
- (space) Space
- | Pipe
- : Colon
- ? Question mark; question symbol
- [ Open bracket; open square bracket; left bracket; left square bracket
- ] Close bracket; close square bracket; right bracket; right square bracket
- { Open curly brace; open curly bracket; left curly brace; left curly bracket
- } Close curly brace; close curly bracket; right curly brace; right curly bracket
- + Plus symbol; plus sign
- < Open angle bracket; open less than; left angle bracket; left less than
- > Close angle bracket; close greater than; right angle bracket; right greater than
- " Open quotes; begin quotes; close quotes; end quotes; open double quotes; begin double quotes; close double quotes; end double quotes
[edit] Making an eBook
Like the OCR approach to making an eBook this approach using automated transcription will require extensive proofreading to ensure good results. The text will normally be loaded into a word processor to correct errors and format the look of the book. Once you have the document corrected you can proceed to HowTo: Create an eBook to continue the process.
[edit] Hardware
- Philips makes a line of dictation devices These are specifically designed to work with Dragon software which may be included depending on the model.
- Onyx readers that have a microphone can do speech recognition. A Wi-Fi connection is required.
[edit] Transcribing software
NCH.com provides software to help you manually transcribe an audio recording.
[edit] For more information
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition
- https://www.globalme.net/blog/the-present-future-of-speech-recognition Complete guide to Speech recognition.
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/voice-to-text describes 8 Voice to text solutions.
- Onyx eBook Reader review
