Dragon+Naturally+Speaking

= Dragon Naturally Speaking =

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Definition
Dragon is a line of software packages that uses voice-recognition technology to allow users to dictate text into documents (such as word-processed documents and emails) and control their computer using spoken commands. Dragon has products for home computer use, as well as specialized products for use by medical, legal and other professionals.The user loads the Dragon software into his or her computer, then recites a canned speech (using a microphone) to "train" the software to recognize his/her particular patterns of speech. Once this initial setup process is complete, the user can use pre-determined spoken commands to control many programs (including searching the internet) and compose text-based documents through dictation.

History
Dragon Systems, one of a very few speech-recognition technology companies, released Dragon Dictate in the early 1990s. The product was not very successful as it required a lengthy user training session, slow, word-by-word enunciation (discrete-speech), and still resulted in many errors in the documents transcribed. In 1997, Dragon Naturally Speaking was released, with continuous-speech recognition, which allowed users to speak at a normal conversational rate. The company was subsequently purchased in 2000 by the Belgian firm Lernout & Hauspie. This firm went bankrupt, and was purchased in 2001 by ScanSoft, Inc., which later became Nuance Communications. Since then, Nuance has released several versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking, with improvements in the software's transcription speed and accuracy.

Applications
Dragon Naturally Speaking software has the potential to be especially helpful to individuals with physical handicaps which prevent them from being able to easily use a keyboard or mouse to control a computer or type for extended periods. It could also potentially reduce or eliminate the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome in workers who spend a lot of time typing. The Nuance website includes several webinars aimed at various professions (insurance agents, social workers, teachers, etc.) to explain the use and benefits of voice-recognition software for their daily computer use.

Review
Below is an entertaining video by David Pogue of the New York Times, illustrating the usefulness of Dragon Naturally Speaking.

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