Review of the Voice Tracker array microphoneDecember 25, 2008
A few weeks ago I decided to go ahead and order the
Voice Tracker array microphone. It arrived in the mail, and it was one of those times like Christmas where you tear open the packaging and behold something shiny and new.
After doing some testing I can say that I'm very impressed with the technology. Acoustic Magic has done some very good work on this product, and I'm happy with my purchase. (My only regret is spending $50 more for the USB version: I was under the impression that it would mean a better analog-to-digital conversion, but in reality it's just a cheap dongle that most likely isn't any better than your sound card)
The first test I did was using the USB connector, which I figured would have the best quality. The results weren't very good: Only 75% accuracy with a command and control grammar from 12 feet away in the kitchen.
The next test I did was with the standard microphone Jack set at about a 15% input level. I arrived at this setting by using sound recorder and testing what the audio coming in at 12 feet sounded like, which even at 15% I felt was louder than the input that was coming in through the USB connector. (Even with the USB connector's volume set at 100%)
The results of the test was 92% accuracy, which is pretty good considering the distance.
The final test I did was setting the microphone input to about 30%. This resulted in only 1 error out of 40, for an accuracy of 97% from 12 feet, which I was extremely pleased with.
There were still some frustrations, such as it interpreting my saying "17" as "70" more often than not, but overall I can't complain. The other thing to realize is that I'm using XP's voice recognition, which is circa 2001, AKA SAPI 5.1. Perhaps if I were to repeat the test with SAPI 5.3 in Vista I would have more luck with the 17 VS 70 problems. My hope is that Windows 7 will include another update to SAPI, but only time will tell.
Anyway, I am extremely pleased with the results. Thank you Acoustic Magic!
Nuance = Nuisance
December 15, 2008
After reading David Pogue's very positive review of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, I figured I'd check it out and see if there was an SDK to play with. There was mention of an SDK on their web site, but strangely no download link, only a link to send a sales request.
I couldn't believe the response: It costs $5000 to download their SDK, or if you just want to take it for a spin, an evaluation costs $2500. What a joke!
Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like Nuance doesn't understand why SDKs are something you give away: So that developers will create systems that use your product, thus driving sales. A did a bit of Googling and found other people scratching their heads.
I looked up the company's stock and it lost 65% of it's value between May and November.
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BlackBerry Bold
December 5, 2008
After work today Meredith showed off her new BlackBerry Bold, and am I ever impressed. It has only been in the last year or so that the BlackBerry has really grabbed my attention: They've improved to the point that they are extremely attractive, versatile devices.
The Bold's screen is fantastic. I'm blown away by the resolution of these new displays, and on-screen fonts are extremely crisp and well proportioned. In addition to the great screen, I love how the overall look of the screen and upper portion is flat and glossy.
After playing with the music player, video player, and camera, I am reminded by the amazing convergence that is happening and will continue to happen. We're now at the point of combining telephone, email, web search, maps, music, video, camera, calendar + tasks, GPS, voice notes, ... wow. Incredible.
It occurred to me this week that the BlackBerry and iPhone represent great AI devices. I guess Google's voice search hints at this, but I'm thinking more directly about what I've been working on. Imagine wearing a wireless earbud and a wireless lapel microphone. The BlackBerry/iPhone would interpret speech and relay responses to user via the earbud.
The amazing thing is that it would be as if the whole of the Internet were inside your head. You could be anywhere at any time and ask almost any question and get an answer "inside your head".
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