BIOS: Technology Means Business

Microsoft has been researching and developing speech technologies for over a decade. In 1993, the company hired Xuedong (XD) Huang, Fil Alleva, and Mei-Yuh Hwang - three of the four people responsible for the Carnegie Mellon University Sphinx-II speech recognition system, which achieved fame in the speech world in 1992 due to its unprecedented accuracy.

Right from the start, with the formation of the Speech API (SAPI) 1.0 team in 1994, Microsoft was driven to create a speech technology that was both accurate and accessible to developers through a powerful API. The team has continued to grow and over the years has released a series of increasingly powerful speech platforms.

In recent years, Microsoft has placed an increasing emphasis on bringing speech technologies into mainstream usage. This focus has led to products such as Speech Server, which is used to implement speech-enabled telephony systems, and Voice Command, which allows users to control Windows Mobile devices using speech commands. So it should come as no surprise that the speech team at Microsoft has been far from idle in the development of Windows Vista. The strategy of coupling powerful speech technology with a powerful API has continued right through to Windows Vista.

Windows Vista includes a built-in speech recognition user interface designed specifically for users who need to control Windows and enter text without using a keyboard or mouse. There is also a ‘state-of-the-art’ general purpose speech recognition engine. Not only does this claim to be an extremely accurate engine, but it’s also available in a variety of languages. Windows Vista also includes the first of the new generation of speech synthesizers to come out of Microsoft, completely rewritten to take advantage of the latest techniques.

With the Windows Vista speech recognition technology, Microsoft has a goal of providing an end-to-end speech experience that addresses key features that users need in a built-in desktop speech recognition experience. This includes an interactive tutorial that explains how to use speech recognition technology and helps the user train the system to understand the user’s speech.

The system includes built-in commands for controlling Windows - allowing you to start, switch between, and close applications using commands such as ‘Start Notepad’ and ‘Switch to Calculator.’ You can control on-screen interface elements like menus and buttons by speaking commands like ‘File’ and ‘Open.’ There’s also support for emulating the mouse and keyboard by giving commands such as ‘Press shift control left arrow three times.’

Windows Vista speech technology includes built-in dictation capabilities (for converting your voice into text) and edit controls (for inserting, correcting, and manipulating text in documents). You can correct misrecognised words by redictating, choosing alternatives, or spelling. For example, “Correct Robot, Robert.” Or “Spell it R, O, B, E, R as in rabbit, T as in telephone.” You can also speak commands to select text, navigate inside a document, and make edits - for instance, “Select ‘My name is,’” “Go after Robert,” or “Capitalise Brown.”

SO WHAT THE HECK HAS HAPPENDED HERE? We don’t know why this video is so funny, but we could watch it all day. How hard is this - “Press Capital I”, “Press Capital N”, “Press Capital F”, “Press Capital O”? We think typing will be with us for a few more years yet...