Published:2017
By Jeremy Moskowitz, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
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Editor's Note: Past articles by members of the online community are archived for your use. The information may become outdated as technology changes. For the most current information, please search the Web site or post a question in the newsgroups.
Personal
computing in the past decade has exceeded our expectations in many ways.
But
in a few specific ways, PC technology struggles to fulfill expectations set way
back in the 1950s and 1960s.
One
example is speech recognition. Forty years ago, scientists predicted the new
millennium would see us all going home at night, tucking the kids in, putting
the cat out, and speaking aloud to a PC: "Computer, turn out the lights
and close the garage doors. Wake me at 7 with my favorite song. Make my coffee.
And call my boss by 8 to remind him of our meeting.
"Goodnight
computer."
"Goodnight
sir."
Sorry.
Windows XP can't make your computer do that. However, once your expectations
are adjusted for present day reality, you might be impressed with how much you
really can do by talking to your computer.
The
speech recognition capabilities in Windows XP, especially when combined with
Office XP productivity software, can enhance computing in such areas as gaming,
data entry, or editing. Further, third-party software vendors are taking the
speech recognition capabilities of your PC into new areas, including things
like home automation and telephony.
Microsoft
has been working on speech recognition technology as a product for several
years. You can learn more about the current state of speech recognition
products on the Microsoft .Net Speech Technologies Web site. At
the same time, Microsoft continues to invest in speech recognition research.
Groups in Redmond and in China are working to solve some of the shortcomings
that still nag speech recognition. One research project, known as the Dr.
Who project, aims to solve the problem of noise and allow your computer
to recognize your voice if you're not in a quiet office, but outside, in a car,
or in a crowded restaurant.
So
what can you do now?
Tapping
into the speech recognition technology within Windows XP can be a little tricky,
but after reading this, you'll be a pro.
The
magic of speech recognition happens when three pieces come together. First, you
need Windows XP Service Pack 1. Next, you'll need
the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine v5.0. Finally, you need an application
that's ready to accept your speech input, these include Notepad, Outlook
Express, and others in Windows XP.
There
is no Speech Recognition Engine (SRE) built directly in to Windows XP. You need
to install a compatible engine, and in most cases, you'll install it from one
of two sources.
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The
Microsoft SRE for Windows XP is available in Office XP applications, such as
Microsoft Word 2002, or Microsoft Excel 2002. If you have Office XP, or one
of these programs on your computer, then you probably already have access to
the SRE. You simply need to install the SRE as explained below.
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A
third option is available for advanced users. The SRE is provided for free as
part of the Microsoft Speech Software Development Kit 5.1. Microsoft provides
no technical support for this software and it is not generally recommended
for end users.
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Before
you go any further, we need to take a minute or two to talk about the most
important component in your Speech Recognition system: the microphone. You will
need to get the right microphone for the job. This isn't very easy.
If
you head on over to your local computer store, you'll see lots of headphones
with microphones attached to them. Even the packaging says things like
"Great for speech recognition." But this is generally not true, for
multiple reasons.
First
off, the quality of these microphones is questionable, which leads to decreased
word recognition. More importantly, none of these microphones is
"powered." Why is this important? Because either the microphone, or
the sound card's microphone input must be powered or speech recognition won't
work. Few sound cards have powered microphone inputs, and almost none of the
microphones is powered. So, how do you know if your microphone is powered or
not? First, check the package for a "batteries included" or
"batteries required" notice. Or, you can get a USB microphone, the
best way to go. These are usually powered. They're also Plug and Play, virtually
guaranteeing success.
Once
you have the microphone and the SRE software, you're ready to get started. In
this column, I'll explain how to load the SRE from Microsoft Word in Office XP.
If
you are first installing Office XP
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1.
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Choose
the Custom installation type.
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2.
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In
the Features to Install section, expand Office Shared Features
and select Alternative User Input as seen below in Figure 1.
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3.
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Click
Update, and the SRE will install.
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If
you previously installed Office XP, but still need to install the SRE component
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1.
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Put
the Office XP CD-ROM into the drive.
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2.
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Click
Start, click Control Panel, click Add/Remove Programs,
select Microsoft Office XP, and click the Change button.
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3.
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Click
Add or Remove Features and then click Next.
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4.
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This
will reveal the installation options dialog show above in Figure 1.
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5.
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Expand
Alternative User Input, click Speech, and then click Update.
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After
you have installed the SRE, you should open Microsoft Word and enable speech
recognition.
To
enable speech recognition in Microsoft Word
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On
the Tools menu, click Speech as shown in Figure 2 below.
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When
you do, you may or may not be prompted for the Office XP media again to finish
the loading of the SRE. If you are, Word will load the rest of the SRE.
Once
this is finished, you should close Word, and, even though not expressly
directed to, you should reboot your machine. When you do, you'll be ready to
explore how Windows XP and the SRE integrate.
The
steps to install the SRE from the Speech SDK are different than installing it
from Office XP. In either case, however, the installation is relatively easy.
The steps for training the SRE, configuring Windows XP, and using speech
recognition as described below are the same, regardless of the source for your
SRE software.
In
addition to Microsoft Word, you can use speech recognition in almost any text
field in any Windows XP program. You can control Windows Media Player, Internet
Explorer 6, dictate into Notepad, or dictate e-mail into Outlook Express.
You're
now ready to show the SRE who's boss. You do this via a little training of the
SRE to make it recognize your personal vocal characteristics.
To
train the SRE
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Click
Start, click Control Panel, click Sound, Speech and Audio
Devices, and then click the Speech icon. The Speech Properties
dialog box will open as shown below.
Figure
3
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Each
user of the SRE has his or her own unique profile. Chances are that you have
different speech patterns than your sister. Windows XP and the SRE should take
note of that fact. Theoretically, you can set up a different profile for
everyone in the house, but, for this example, we'll assume you're the only
user.
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1.
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Ensure
that your microphone is working by clicking the Configure Microphone button.
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2.
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Click
the Train Profile button to start the process. The Speech Recognition
Training Wizard will open.
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3.
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Click
Next, and follow the wizard instructions to train the SRE.
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Now
you're ready to start using speech recognition via a tool in Windows XP called
the Language Bar. At this point, you should configure the Language Bar, and
other Windows XP speech settings.
To
configure the Language Bar and Windows XP Speech Settings
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1.
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Open
Control Panel.
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2.
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Click
Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, and then click Regional
and Language Options.
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3.
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Click
the Languages tab.
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4.
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Click
the Details button.
Figure
4
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The
Text Services and Input Languages dialog opens, as seen above.
Clicking
the Language Bar button allows you to configure how you want the
Language Bar to appear. You can choose from four options such as having it
float or having it docked at the toolbar.
You
may change the recognition behavior of the SRE by clicking the Speech
Recognition entry, then selecting Properties. For more about this,
see the speech recognition documentation in Microsoft Word.
To
enable the advanced speech recognition in Windows XP
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Click
the Advanced tab, which exposes how Windows XP can interface directly
with the SRE as shown below.
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Check
the box beside Extend support of advanced text services to all programs.
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Click
OK, then, if required, restart your machine.
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This
option allows Windows XP to accept dictation-style input anywhere there is a
box that can be filled in with text — including Notepad, Internet Explorer's
Address bar, and Outlook Express. However, this does not enable Windows XP to
respond to commands for the operating system shell. You cannot use speech
recognition to open the Windows XP Start menu, or the Windows XP Help and
Support Center, for example. This is known as Voice Command mode, and while
Office XP programs have this capability, Windows XP has it only in the Tablet
PC Edition of Windows XP.
To
test out your Speech Recognition capabilities, you should run two exercises.
First, while running Word XP, locate the Language bar and click the Microphone
icon as seen below.
Say
"dictate" then say a sentence or two, and see that Word responds and
enters in your text. In Word, you can also change the mode of input by saying
"voice command." This lets you navigate the menus by saying
"menu," or you can open Word Help by saying "help." You can
explore a lot of other intuitive voice-command features.
For
your second exercise, start Notepad, and on the Language Bar, click the
Microphone again and say "dictate." You should be able to dictate
into Notepad, which shows that Windows XP is interfacing with the SRE. You're
now ready to conquer any text-box and dictate your next e-mail message.
Now
that solid speech recognition technology is available in Windows XP, I predict
that we'll see more third-party programs take advantage of the hooks that
Windows XP provides. By setting up speech recognition now, training the SRE,
and getting used to the interface, you'll be ready to enjoy it when the next
wave of integrated software arrives.
Expert
Zone Columnist Jeremy Moskowitz is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, and
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, and the Chief Propeller-Head for
Moskowitz, Inc. He is an independent consultant, and trainer for Windows technologies.
He can be reached at jeremym-ms@Moskowitz-inc.com.
Note that he cannot respond to all e-mail messages.
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