Apple Patent: Speech Recognition Improvements? [Archive]

MacRumors

Mar 2, 2003, 12:57 AM

Apple has recently been awarded patents for a number (here (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=3&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Apple.AS.&OS=AN/Apple&RS=AN/Apple), here (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=4&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Apple.AS.&OS=AN/Apple&RS=AN/Apple)) of microphone/speech recognition patents.

The most descriptive is this patent (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20030033153&OS=20030033153&RS=20030033153) which was filed in July 2002 entitled "Microphone elements for a computing system". The patent abstract is as follows:

An improved speech recognition device is provided. The speech recognition device comprises a display with at least two built in microphones and a speech recognition module electrically connected to the display. The speech recognition module uses an algorithm that may take into account the position of the built in microphone on the display. The display may have a first axis of rotation where the microphones may be placed an equal distance from the first axis of rotation.

The application itself explains the difficulties in filtering out background noise from speech for recognition, and describes a technique with "at least two built in microphones and a speech recognition module electrically connected to the display".

Apple has not publically released any displays that incorporate this technology.

iJon

Mar 2, 2003, 01:03 AM

wow, this will really be awesome. when will apple ever stop amazing us.

iJon

arn

Mar 2, 2003, 01:06 AM

I think it's most interesting because Apple has seemingly left Speech Recognition untouched for some time.

arn

awulf

Mar 2, 2003, 01:07 AM

Wouldn't a rotating Microphone be a bit weird and expensive?

arn

Mar 2, 2003, 01:10 AM

Originally posted by awulf
Wouldn't a rotating Microphone be a bit weird and expensive?

the microphones are attached to the display. They are talking about a display which could potentially rotate.

arn

Bateman

Mar 2, 2003, 01:13 AM

i really hope that if Apple is working with speech recognition that they do it well. speech recognition is such a good idea, in theory and on paper, and i have been waiting to see its potential played out, it will be awhile but maybe Apple will be able to pioneer it to the point that it becomes truly acceptable and openly regarded as an element to a revolutionary way to use computers...

It is tough (setting up speech recognition to work seemlessly with its user), I'm sure, from a technical stand-point, and it shows it with how it performs on most Macs. If i were able to talk at a comfortable pace and the speech recog. would be able to keep up with me while showing great accuracy and using reasonable commands for certain tasks, I could see this as a feature that would be able to catch on.

Include this feature with mouse gestures and you have the future generations of OSes. But i'm getting ahead of myself....

I wonder what they are up to???

Kwyjibo

Mar 2, 2003, 01:14 AM

I'm fairly sure that gettign rid of background noise is supposedly the final key to all speech recognition that and getting the computer to interpete the signals right. If anyone can do this right, its apple.

confirmed

Mar 2, 2003, 01:30 AM

i have to say, this makes me think it'd be used in a PDA. mainly the fact that ita primary improvement is on background noise, in your home, thats not so much of a problem. outside, when you want to convert voice to data, good noise cancelling will be very necessary.

the ipod, "reveloutionary" because it was small and hard drive based. 1,000 songs in your pocket! a PDA with voice based data entry.. definitely revolutionary!

yeah, steve said he doesn't like PDAs. but his reason was because he thought entering text with a little stylus was a flawed method. i think i remember a quote where he asked who wants to write entire emails like that. and he's right. when people use their PDAs for email, they keep the emails as short as they can. if you could just enter as you talk, with even better reliability than Graffiti and other stylus based methods, people would, finally, be able to use a PDA to enter massive amounts of text.

anyone agree?

foniks2020

Mar 2, 2003, 01:39 AM

Originally posted by confirmed
yeah, steve said he doesn't like PDAs. but his reason was because he thought entering text with a little stylus was a flawed method. i think i remember a quote where he asked who wants to write entire emails like that. and he's right. when people use their PDAs for email, they keep the emails as short as they can. if you could just enter as you talk, with even better reliability than Graffiti and other stylus based methods, people would, finally, be able to use a PDA to enter massive amounts of text.

anyone agree?

My thoughts exactly as soon as I read the rumor!!!!! This makes sooooo much sense to me. Who does want to write in all their e-mails? In fact who wants to TYPE them all in, especially on a cramped/carpal keyboard?

I'm thinking the perfect mix of a PDA and a PVR (Personal Voice Recorder). Think about journalism or any professional who takes a lot of notes. They use PVRs all the time but then have to manually transcribe all their notes onto their laptops, etc. Steve probably wants this one for himself!

Well here's hoping that it works as well as the hype will expect it to... Apple will have another winner on their hands.

applefan

Mar 2, 2003, 02:10 AM

I'm thinking the perfect mix of a PDA and a PVR (Personal Voice Recorder). Think about journalism or any professional who takes a lot of notes. They use PVRs all the time but then have to manually transcribe all their notes onto their laptops, etc. Steve probably wants this one for himself!

I'm thinking of the perfect mix of PDA/cell phone. The problem with current phone/PDAs is size, and small phones that sync with PIMs are to difficult and slow to enter text into notes, calendar and email. Maybe this technology can address those issues with voice recognition.

redAPPLE

Mar 2, 2003, 02:19 AM

is it just me or am i missing the point...

they are talking about the device, and not about the software right?

AmbitiousLemon

Mar 2, 2003, 02:19 AM

Apple has left speech recognition untouched for so long this is very interesting.

Speech recognition technology has been one of the hardest hit areas by Microsoft vaporware tactics. It is nice to see that someone is attempting to bring us out of the MS imposed dark ages.

It is also interesting to me that this is a hardware assisted speech recognition technology.

Mention of including it in a display is also an interesting note.

also for those discussing pda tech read more than just the blurb. the numbered points make it seem pretty clear that apple is think of this as a addition to a conventional computer rather than any sort of handheld device. if you have used speech recoginition on a mac then you know that getting absolute silience is key and is not so easy to achieve in any environment (home, office, or outside). Noise filtering technology does not therefore point to a handheld device.

i am interested in the multilingual properties of mac osx and how speech recognition could tie in with all of this. will it work for all the osx languages installed? even the tonal languages?

would it be tied to cocoa so that programmers could include voice recog easily into their apps?

AmbitiousLemon

Mar 2, 2003, 02:20 AM

Originally posted by redAPPLE
is it just me or am i missing the point...

they are talking about the device, and not about the software right?

they are talking about a dual mic display mounted hardware noise reduction ssytem for use in voice recognition systems.

Choppaface

Mar 2, 2003, 02:51 AM

considering the description of the patent for the backlit keyboard, it's going to be very interesting to see what this turns out to be

michaelyoung

Mar 2, 2003, 02:58 AM

For all the wishful thinking about an Apple PDA, I must say, that I just got the t68i and it comes pretty darn close to everything i would hope for. As long as you dont need to input on the go. But I didnt do that much with my old Palm.
With the new form factor (P800?) a real convergent device may finally be here in a reasonable size.
Plus, I'm the kind of geek who will buy anything from Apple but i dont want _another_ thing to clip on to my belt. If Apple _did_ make a phone they would have to make in in GSM and TDMA and all the others. It just seems very complicated.
Sorry i'm tired

Sol

Mar 2, 2003, 03:36 AM

I do not understand why two microphones are necessary for speech recognition. The only theory I have about this is that one microphone would pick up the person speaking and the other would pick up the background noise. Using some type of hardware/software process the background sound would be negated from the speech signal, kind of like the system Bose use in their hi-fi and Sony in their Noise Canceling headphones. This would make the speech more distinct for the computer and improve the speech recognition process.

As for the speech recognition module, I have absolutely no idea what this would be. Maybe the CPU would not be utilized for this application by offloading the work to a hardware module. If this is the case then it could definitely be intended for a portable device but considering Steve Jobs' comments about PDAs it could be a part of something unprecedented.

Nermal

Mar 2, 2003, 04:04 AM

Well it looks like the speech recognition tasks will be done using a dedicated processor. Having used speech recognition software, I find it frustratingly slow, but if it is using a dedicated processor then this should speed it up significantly.

I also can't help but think that the rumoured plastic enclosure (on page 2) has something to do with this - I'm imagining a PDA-style device. But I'm no good at predictions :(

inkswamp

Mar 2, 2003, 04:12 AM

Originally posted by confirmed
i have to say, this makes me think it'd be used in a PDA.
[...]
anyone agree?

OMFG! I rarely read posts on rumors sites that have the feel of being right on target, but your post is. I think you've hit it right on!

I work in a setting with many journalists around me. I could only imagine the stampede a product like that would create amongst journalists, the idea that they could potentially take an iPod-like device, interview someone, make verbal notes and then hook up to their Mac and watch the whole thing pop into their word processor, fully transcribed. Amazing. I watch them sit there with tape recorders, doing the play-pause-rewind-type-repeat method. This would be a killer way to save time and effort.

I can imagine lots of other fantastic uses for this too. I do a lot of recreational writing (fiction, humor, etc.) and I would definitely get this. I don't own a PDA and I don't own an iPod, but this concept would change that immediately. What a great concept. I hope Apple is doing exactly what you posted.

Winston Smith

Mar 2, 2003, 04:13 AM

Rather than concentrate on it being used for a cool new device, surely this sort of technology fits with everything Apple makes.
How long have PC's totally depended on the GUI as the main point of difference; M$ is stuffed when you wake up and say " open safari, goto Macrumors.com" while your making your first cup of coffee!:cool:

boskie

Mar 2, 2003, 05:32 AM

Originally posted by AmbitiousLemon

i am interested in the multilingual properties of mac osx and how speech recognition could tie in with all of this. will it work for all the osx languages installed? even the tonal languages?

Finally!

A universal translator for speaking to the in-laws!!!:D

Oh, wait... I'll also find out what they were shouting at my wedding...:eek:

newnomad

Mar 2, 2003, 06:42 AM

Using 2 microphones (close to each other) is something that has been done for ages in public address (microphone singers of bands,...) The 2 mics have opposite fases and thus filter out all the background, destroying feedback problems. Its a purely physical thing, no dsp.
I wonder if they also consider pressure zone microphones (PZM)

As for pda's (and all small input devices for digital gizmos for that matter) I think its about time we learn a whole new 1 hand operated way of typing. Man stands above machine and is smart enough to adapt.
If it works for a trumpetplayer......

arn

Mar 2, 2003, 07:31 AM

dstorey

Mar 2, 2003, 07:32 AM

I think this parts intresting:

Of course, the computer system may have many physical forms ranging from an integrated circuit, a printed circuit board, and a small handheld device up to a desktop personal computer. Computer system 900 includes a monitor 902, a display 904, a chassis 906, a disk drive 908, a keyboard 910, and a mouse 912. Disk 914 is a computer-readable medium used to transfer data to and from computer system 900. So that the computer system 900 may be an example of the computer system illustrated in FIG. 2, a stand 905 is provided. A hinge 907 allows the monitor 902 to be mounted to the stand 905, so that the monitor may be able to rotate around a display axis 909. A first microphone 911 and a second microphone 913 are set on each side of the monitor 902 on the display axis 909.

Sounds like its not just a pda but mainly for desktop systems. The whole thing talks about a rotating display and this doesn't suggest a pda and i cant work out why or how a pda would have a rotating axis, unless it just means the user manually turning the device, but this doesn't use multiple axis. It sounds more to me like an iMac where the screen can rotate on the neck for whatever reason. And by the sounds of that description, a studio display that has mic's and a display stand so it can rotate and have free movement like the iMac.

What would be reallt intresting is if the display had a cam as well, and could automatically move and rotate to follow the user or turn to face a second speaker when they start talking. very useful for meetings, but very confusing for the poor mac if an argument ensued. The all seeing, all listening, dancing iMac anyone, how much cool factor would that have. Then imagine a touch screen displat, with pressure sensitive stylus, to add diagrams and hand written notes and sig's, bluetooth light up keys, mouse (which has thumb wheel and senses which side you click for two button mouse that looks like one) and possibly 5.1/7.1 wireless speakers for a wire free tidy desktop. These bluetooth deviced would need some way to recharge, as plugging into a cradle gets rid of the wireless advantage as the cradles have wires. some form of kinetic or solar power would be good (no way kinetic would work for speakers though). Now just add IBM PowerPc 970 @ 2.5 GHz and you have an amazing desirable computer. Not very likely i know but how many of you would buy one. Oh the display would have to be removeable so when your mac is old you can buy just the base and use your old display/cam/mic's, mouse and keys.

Add iApps to allow you to watch tv on the iMac (removes the need for a seperate portable in the study/kids room/ wherever the mac is) and allow to record a la tivo. and a iHome app that controls standard devices for home automation systems (possibly over bluetooth/WiFi depending on range). This would allow you to use playlists for the home, such as have settings for the lights, heating etc when your at work/holiday/night time/romantic night in(controlling the dimmer switch ;)) etc . This would intergrate with iCal so you can see and edit the settings by day/month/year, and .mac so you can control remotely while your at work/holiday. If the display could even turn itself you could have bluetooth movement sensors for the home where if someone moves into the room where the mac is, the sensor transmits to the mac and it turns and starts to record with the cam and saves t your .mac account. Imagine a burgulars face as the mac turns and greets them ;). Ok ok it's mostly fantasy and very unlikely but it is technically possible. sorry for going so off topic

Sonofhaig

Mar 2, 2003, 08:45 AM

This post reminds me of the scene in "Star Trek, The Voyage Home". Scottie, talking to a 20th century computer, to use it. :D
Well, if anyone can bring us closer to that kind of technology........it's Apple.

Freg3000

Mar 2, 2003, 09:24 AM

Anyone think that this might just be a device to input voice reg. into a video conferencing iChat? I'd like to see a PDA, but, I have my doubts.

Kwyjibo

Mar 2, 2003, 09:24 AM

arn, i think this should b e your next poll, Would you use Speech Recogition software if Apple Produced it?

as for the whole rotation mic maybe they will evnetaully make a whoel group ofmicrophones and a headset like oldstyle metal braces. people will put it on and have micrphoens spinning around. I also remember a segment on The Screen Savers where they had ultra directional laser speakers that were able to be aimed. Perhaps a laser mic is the key to tet recognition.

Niknar

Mar 2, 2003, 09:24 AM

Apple Tablet!!

tpjunkie

Mar 2, 2003, 09:25 AM

That wasn't just any computer...it was a Mac Plus!

Niknar

Mar 2, 2003, 09:27 AM

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
as for the whole rotation mic

The mic doesn't move. The mic is attached to the screen. The screen is what rotates.

Apple Tablet!!

guifa

Mar 2, 2003, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by AmbitiousLemon
i am interested in the multilingual properties of mac osx and how speech recognition could tie in with all of this. will it work for all the osx languages installed? even the tonal languages?
I was wondering the same thing. But then I thought about it...English is technically tonal too (we use different tones to distinguish betwixt a question and a statement), so, perhaps they're looking at implementing those elements of the English language so we don't even have to type question marks! If they got that, then going to tonal-based languages shouldn't be too hard, especially since most, if not all, the other languages of the world have inteligent spelling systems.

At the same time, it might drive me crazy since a lot of times I'm chatting on-line in both Spanish and English, and thus, how would the computer recognize which language I was using? Would I have to use a keystroke to change languages?

Kwyjibo

Mar 2, 2003, 09:55 AM

Originally posted by Niknar
The mic doesn't move. The mic is attached to the screen. The screen is what rotates.

Apple Tablet!!

I"m just stating what I imagine when someone says mic that filters out backgorund noise and I'm confused on how a person would use display thats rotation. as for the apple tablet, two posts with that maybe your only seeing everything as tablet speculation.

Trimix

Mar 2, 2003, 10:02 AM

To make it understand Spanish you would use a keyword like HOMBRE, going to french something like uuhhuu pooopooo, then switching to German SCHULZ or ACHTUNG comes to mind :p

No seriously, any verbal command could do - somehow with what I have read about i-chat and the whole teleconferencing thing, would it not be great to have the mac serve as a typist just taking down everything being said during a teleconference ?

A little while ago I read somewhere about ORANGE working on a little button for one's ear, which serves as a personal digital assistant, in the same time measuring temperature and checking one's overall well-being - it reads e-mails and faxes to the user, can redirect phone calls, wakes us up in the morning etc..

I guess what I want to say is that I expect from apple not to fall into the trap again of making a PDA like we are used to seeing them everywhere, but to introduce a totally new form-factor.
With .mac, they have the base for us users to store all our info we ever need, now we only need something to access it on the go -
I know I am dreaming - sorry

Niknar

Mar 2, 2003, 10:03 AM

Originally posted by Kwyjibo
I"m just stating what I imagine when someone says mic that filters out backgorund noise and I'm confused on how a person would use display thats rotation. as for the apple tablet, two posts with that maybe your only seeing everything as tablet speculation.

I did try to delete my first post but it wasn't letting me.

This tech would probably find its way into all Apple Monitors and computers.

But it sounds like it was made for a table computer that could be healed either portrait or landscape.

I could be wrong.

dscottbuch

Mar 2, 2003, 10:21 AM

I believe this is aimed at using some sort of phased microphone array. If you notice in the first patent is 'two or more' microphones. With this type of array and some fairly simple processing, the output signal of the array can be adaptively focused on the speaker, even as the speaker moves (as long as its not too fast). This can result in a tracking directional microphone which tracks the voice in front of the screen, especially in certain frequency ranges which are critical to voice recognition. This all comes from standard beam forming theory in radar. I'm actually surprised the patent office would grant this patent even though, if done cost-effectively, it will create a great system.

pyrotoaster

Mar 2, 2003, 10:27 AM

Let's think about OS X for sec.
Speech Recognition serves very little purpose in the system, besides Universal Access. Then there's Inkwell, which serves even less purpose. Apple is testing technology using OS X.

The real question is what are they building up to?

What about a mini-tablet with voice-input as well as native handwriting recognition? Inkwell seems to work well for those who have tried it (I haven't, but the recognition in my eMate works very well, and Inkwell is based on Newton tech), which means Apple could really put it to use.

Just imagine the overall innovation in a device that can read handwriting and dictate speech. If we take other rumors into account, it would be one amazing little gadget.

What's clear here is that Apple is getting ready to "Wow" us. I'm hoping for a Blue Dalmatian blender that switches modes based on voice commands.

"Mix!" :p

noverflow

Mar 2, 2003, 10:28 AM

http://aiw1.uspto.gov:80/.DImg?Docid=us20030033148ki&PageNum=1&IDKey=919B2AAC9127&ImgFormat=tif

this is a drawing from the pat page.

you must scroll down the the VERY BOTTOM

looks cool

this is a pic of the device

all i did is click on images

Freg3000

Mar 2, 2003, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by noverflow
http://aiw1.uspto.gov:80/.DImg?Docid=us20030033148ki&PageNum=1&IDKey=919B2AAC9127&ImgFormat=tif

this is a drawing from the pat page.

you must scroll down the the VERY BOTTOM

looks cool

this is a pic of the device

all i did is click on images

What the heck is that thing?!?!!? It looks so strange, like a.....ummmm.......something living, with those two circles representing the eyes and the triangle as the nose. I suppose this is just what it looks like internally?

voicegy

Mar 2, 2003, 10:41 AM

I remember how "fun" speech recognition was when it first came out and how Steve wowed us all with voice recognition password access to his computer on stage. Rarely did it ever work in real life. However, I've noitice that "Speech" on Jaguar has impoved markedly; I'm quite impressed with the forgiveness of the system, and easily, 9 times out of 10, it recognizes what my commands are.

My favorite thing to do is to play hands-free chess in front of a co-worker. Apple just keeps making it easier and easier for me to blow away those Pee-Cee guys and gals with stuff like this.

I have no idea what's coming around the bend with this latest patent, but any improvement upon what's already in place would be fantastic and most welcome. Perhaps Apple's own version of ViaVoice or some such product?

Bring it ON!:D

Trimix

Mar 2, 2003, 10:42 AM

Oh I hope this is not what it looks on the inside - I stopped buying gadget with two little men inside ages ago :p

I am sure some studio technicians will tell us what it is but for me it looks like two people talking at the device from two different angles.

Teqanjel

Mar 2, 2003, 11:19 AM

SO glad to hear Apple is actively doing something on speech recognition!

Coincidentally, I posted some hypothesizing yesterday on MacRumors' Page 2 regarding that "new plastic enclosure". At the end, I said:

"So put this all together and what do you get?
- A product which opens up new possibilities, not just doing the same-old-things better;
- A product which encourages purchase by both Mac and PC users; and,
- A product which could introduce new Apple-branded software.

"I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that this new enclosure is meant to house a portable computer which not only serves as a PDA and tablet, but which incorporates Apple-branded speech recognition software. Via AirPort Extreme or wired network, it can also serve as a remote console to the user's main desktop or laptop, regardless of whether that computer is Mac OS or Windows driven."

If I'm right, can I start up my own rumors site? ;)

Regarding speech recognition (SR)...I use it daily on my job (I use technology to help people with disabilities, and among other things, train others on Dragon NaturallySpeaking, IBM ViaVoice, and MacSpeech iListen). There are a lot of things Apple and others could do to improve SR and make it a more effective and less cumbersome tool for daily use. The use of multiple microphones is certainly one -- microphone arrays have been shown to improve performance. Then there's things like collecting other input to help the software interpret what it hears. For example, IBM is working on using a camera to watch the speaker's lips -- such additional clues increase the chances of the software correctly determining what the user says.

There is also the issue of speech recognition from multiple speakers (like in a meeting), and speaker-independent SR (little or no pre-training required) -- areas which I know IBM is working on with hopes of releasing a commercial product within a year. I can't believe Apple would let itself fall behind in this important area, so...bring on an Apple-branded tablet/PDA with SR, HWR, and any other technology which makes the hardware/software adapt to us rather than us adapt to the needs of the technology!

Elenita

Mar 2, 2003, 11:24 AM

Originally posted by newnomad
As for pda's (and all small input devices for digital gizmos for that matter) I think its about time we learn a whole new 1 hand operated way of typing. Man stands above machine and is smart enough to adapt.
If it works for a trumpetplayer......

There is actually a way of typing one-handed using a standard QWERTY keyboard that I discovered recently. Most of the people who use this method tend to have limited ability in one hand, making "normal" typing impossible, but I see no reason why people wanting to use PDA's couldn't use it either.

Check it out! (http://www.aboutonehandtyping.com)

imaswitcheryeah

Mar 2, 2003, 11:38 AM

Sorry if this is a little off topic, but its pretty close;)

Im a service technician and I saw this pic in the iMac service manual. I dont own an iMac or know someone that does, so I was wondering if this actually worked.

(The wire on the right is the LED.)

If anyone with an iMac sees this, lemme know if it works. Thanks.

deepkid

Mar 2, 2003, 11:40 AM

Originally posted by Freg3000
What the heck is that thing?!?!!? It looks so strange, like a.....ummmm.......something living, with those two circles representing the eyes and the triangle as the nose. I suppose this is just what it looks like internally?

Hahah.

Quark

Mar 2, 2003, 11:59 AM

Originally posted by noverflow
http://aiw1.uspto.gov:80/.DImg?Docid=us20030033148ki&PageNum=1&IDKey=919B2AAC9127&ImgFormat=tif

this is a drawing from the pat page.

you must scroll down the the VERY BOTTOM

looks cool

this is a pic of the device

all i did is click on images

Hey, goofy! :)

That's a pic of the person sitting in front of the microphones. It is a person. Not a device.

That's why it looks so strange for a device. On the right they are showing the head that is speaking and that the mics will pickup the speech. The shoulders and the legs are also shown, as well as the eyes and nose. These are very basic representations and they didn't need to be elaborate.

Quark

jimjiminyjim

Mar 2, 2003, 12:20 PM

Speech Recognition is what I am waiting for. I was going to shell out some cash to MacSpeech for iListen, but they wouldn't give me a test version, and the reports gave it too low an accuracy rating for me to justify the expense without my own trial run.

While my iMac 233 is becoming dated (though it still runs everything I have wanted to run) It can suffice until a 970 with integrated voice recognition comes out.

Does that seem like wishful thinking...? ;)

grapeice

Mar 2, 2003, 12:22 PM

As soon as I read this, I thought of a research project I did in college not even a year ago. The project was to take an array of microphones and position them in some way so that when a person moved around, the microphones would change their "beam" to continuously point to that source. The source would have a small device that was tracked by a receiver on the other end. The computer would then change the weighting of what direction each microphone would listen to, thus creating a "beam" or area where the sounds could be picked up the most, and all other areas outside of that beam would be cancelled out, to get rid of the background noise.

Electrical engineers are trying to test similar devices in cars, where instead of using a cell phone, you have microphones positioned around the main driver in the car such that they can speak when they need to and all the background noise of the car driving down the road, the radio, etc, could be cancelled out. Everything could be completely hands-free, command-activated. I actually know someone right now working on this very application, although no word as to which automotive manufacturer is funding this research.

The real question is if this is something that Apple is trying to accomplish, what would they be doing with it? They mentioned 2 or more microphones... could this be an array that could be used in a similar fashion? I don't understand what would be the use of a rotating display, other than if you think of it like an enclosed workstation, where if you need to move your head to another location, the display moves with you so that it is in front of you. Of course, I don't see how that could be a consumer application.

Or perhaps the microphones in the display know whether you are talking to it and need to add something, or talking away from the computer, and not add the things you are saying because you are saying something else. Either way, I'm glad to see that Apple is continuing to innovate. I wish I could work there and see all the cool ideas they are putting together...

Dunepilot

Mar 2, 2003, 01:17 PM

Originally posted by dstorey

What would be reallt intresting is if the display had a cam as well, and could automatically move and rotate to follow the user or turn to face a second speaker when they start talking. very useful for meetings, but very confusing for the poor mac if an argument ensued. The all seeing, all listening, dancing iMac anyone, how much cool factor would that have......

Add iApps to allow you to watch tv on the iMac (removes the need for a seperate portable in the study/kids room/ wherever the mac is) and allow to record a la tivo. and a iHome app that controls standard devices for home automation systems (possibly over bluetooth/WiFi depending on range). This would allow you to use playlists for the home, such as have settings for the lights, heating etc when your at work/holiday/night time/romantic night in(controlling the dimmer switch ;)) .......

If the display could even turn itself you could have bluetooth movement sensors for the home where if someone moves into the room where the mac is, the sensor transmits to the mac and it turns and starts to record with the cam and saves t your .mac account.

I thought all of this was leading up to

"...and then when you've dimmed the light switches using your Romantic playlist, your Mac camera can capture the action happening on your living room carpet, whilst pumping out some Herbie Hancock MP3s to complete the experience..."

and save it to your .mac account, of course;)

Winston Smith

Mar 2, 2003, 01:28 PM

Sounds like its not just a pda but mainly for desktop systems. The whole thing talks about a rotating display and this doesn't suggest a pda and i cant work out why or how a pda would have a rotating axis, unless it just means the user manually turning the device, but this doesn't use multiple axis. It sounds more to me like an iMac where the screen can rotate on the neck for whatever reason. And by the sounds of that description, a studio display that has mic's and a display stand so it can rotate and have free movement like the iMac.

My earlier feeling exactly, this is a technology for the whole Apple 'experience' not just a particular new piece of kit. This is all about simplifying the GUI for whatever machine is used- personally I think this could be the next reinvention of the wheel.
Apple generally builds computers that work (could be a marketing line) this is about ensuring that speech recognition 'works' then it becomes a marketable factor in OS X 10.2.5 or whatever.

Winston Smith

Mar 2, 2003, 01:30 PM

dstorey

Mar 2, 2003, 02:08 PM

Originally posted by Dunepilot
I thought all of this was leading up to

"...and then when you've dimmed the light switches using your Romantic playlist, your Mac camera can capture the action happening on your living room carpet, whilst pumping out some Herbie Hancock MP3s to complete the experience..."

and save it to your .mac account, of course;)

well that could be an option when it becomes fully intergrated with iLife ;) As well as .mac access, a 1-click system will be incorperated that sends your movie/music to playboy enterprises and in three working days you get a proffesionaly produced top shelf dvd delivered to your door...or you could produce it in iMovie for free...just for the budding prawn enthusiasts. In all seriousness that is a disturbing suggestion... herbie hancock indeed..

cryptochrome

Mar 2, 2003, 02:18 PM

I find this whole discussion rather odd.

The whole point of using two microphones is that it allows you to partially triangulate the location of sounds (it can tell you the position on and distance from the axis drawn between the two microphones - three would allow you to pinpoint the exact location of the sound). In doing so, it allows you to filter out everything else. This is nothing new.

But the original example of sound localization is already on either side of your head - your ears. It's part of what allows you to listen to something quiet even in a noisy room. And the reason why music is recorded in stereo.

Noise reduction is related but not exactly the same. The second microphone, in a sense, is the listener's ear. As long as the relative locations between the mike and ear stay the same a speaker can be used to cancel out outside sound.

The only thing semi-original in apple's patent seems to be that the system takes into account the changing location of the microphones due to moving axes of rotation (think the hinge on your powerbook or the neck of your iMac) and compensate for those changes. It does not seem to take into consideration the changing location of your mouth, which also matters.

Nothing is mentioned about tracking your voice, which would be a solution to that, or the exact nature of the software parts of the system. It does mention that the front end filters the signal a lot before matches it against an acoustic model database, while the back end actually does something with that result (presumably varying with the situation and supporting multiple back ends).

I'd like to add that the present USPTO appears to be staffed with idiots who grant patents for pretty much anything, without checking for prior art and without regard for sheer obviousness and current use. Furthermore they don't even know how to scan images properly, or have the brains to use a file format for patents online that can be easily printed (i.e. pdf).

edenwaith

Mar 2, 2003, 05:25 PM

Originally posted by Sonofhaig
This post reminds me of the scene in "Star Trek, The Voyage Home". Scottie, talking to a 20th century computer, to use it. :D
Well, if anyone can bring us closer to that kind of technology........it's Apple.

I never got much into Star Trek, but that scene probably ranks as my favorite. "Hello, computer."
"Scottie, try using the keyboard."
"How quaint."

edenwaith

Mar 2, 2003, 05:33 PM

Originally posted by arn
the microphones are attached to the display. They are talking about a display which could potentially rotate.

A display which can rotate? Now where have we seen one of those before?

As for two microphones, my guess it is to help 'find' the speaker, and concentrate on that noise source, and try and ignore other sounds. Similar to how our eyes work. With only one eye, we have difficulty in judging how far away something is, but when both eyes combine two images into a single image, that gives an interpretation to our brain the distance to an object. I feel a trigonometry lesson coming on...

But if this is an area which Apple is actively pursuing, I say this is cooler than any speed bump! When I got an iMac, I was anxious to get OS 8.6 so I could use the speech recognition. It's not perfect, and is somewhat limited in what it can do at times, but it is still worlds ahead of what I've seen any other OS do natively. If Windows has native speech recognition abilities, I haven't seen it yet, and I don't know of any large OEM who includes microphones with their computers. So, at least from what I've seen, Apple is still about the only OS player who has done at least something with speech recognition, but I believe there is still so much more which can be done with it. As mentioned, Apple hasn't done much with it for several years. My biggest gripe would probably be the speech recognition with the Chess program bite. I can hardly get anything to work for whatever reason. It understands 'castle king side', but it doesn't seem to understand when I try and move pieces. (pawn e2 to e4 OR e2 to e4)

scorpion

Mar 2, 2003, 05:47 PM

PDA would be a natural place.

Also, most email can be spoken but there aren't really standards. Usually when someone emails me a complicated question I call them because I'm too lazy to type. I would much rather "speak" the answer than type it.

But think about this: Keynote for presentations so I can "talk" you through the points and the slides automatically change. The iLife stuff would be great for slide shows or even for looking at scenes in a film (so we'd have to assign keywords to the chapters DVDs have now). iTunes - just assigning of stations, playlists, or artists.

I think the real big and cool stuff will be when we can collaborate on shared documents using only speech -- i.e. comments are audible and visual.

Am I making any sense? Long night last night.

Phil Of Mac

Mar 2, 2003, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by foniks2020
My thoughts exactly as soon as I read the rumor!!!!! This makes sooooo much sense to me. Who does want to write in all their e-mails? In fact who wants to TYPE them all in, especially on a cramped/carpal keyboard?

Uh, most people.

Keyboards are a fast and efficient way of inputting text. Assuming they could perfect voice recognition, how can you edit and punctuate with voice commands with nearly as much ease as you can type? I'm sure many people don't like to type, but I can't imagine why. I probably have the world's worst motor skills (not counting those with neurological disorders) but I can still type with ease. Especially on my Dvorak keyboard. I can at least type better than I can speak out loud. Certainly you can speak faster than you can type, but typing has many advantages to speech recognition. Anyone who thinks keyboards will fall into disuse is probably wrong.

edenwaith

Mar 2, 2003, 06:24 PM

Originally posted by confirmed

yeah, steve said he doesn't like PDAs. but his reason was because he thought entering text with a little stylus was a flawed method. i think i remember a quote where he asked who wants to write entire emails like that.

Wasn't that a comment about those new laptops with the screen which one can write on? (I'm blanking the name of them right now...tablets?). So I think Jobs was talking about those, not necessarily PDAs.

edenwaith

Mar 2, 2003, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac

Keyboards are a fast and efficient way of inputting text. Assuming they could perfect voice recognition, how can you edit and punctuate with voice commands with nearly as much ease as you can type? I'm sure many people don't like to type, but I can't imagine why.

I enjoy typing...probably because it came quite naturally to me, and I've become one of the fastest typists I know. Granted, I can talk faster than I can type, but it could be quite a pain to have to learn to correct the computer while speaking. What about when one says the word "there". Perhaps they meant "they're" or "their". That certainly makes it difficult for the computer to comprehend at times.

Plus comma who would want to have to keep saying the punctuation marks question mark

Teqanjel

Mar 2, 2003, 07:31 PM

"The problem with computers is that they do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do."

This old quote (by whom, I don't know) demonstrates why the biggest problem with computers is the interface -- telling the computer what you want, the computer telling you what it wants. The main reason why the graphic user interface was such a breakthrough was because it took a giant step in the direction of allowing us to communicate with these machines more "naturally" -- pointing at something rather than describing what we want with unnatural, often arcane commands. The more we can interact with computers the ways we interact with other human beings, the more people will feel comfortable with them, the more people will use them...the more people will buy them.

Apple has always stressed this approach, beginning with their Human Interface Guidelines of years past. Handwriting recognition, speech recognition, perhaps eventually things like recognition of gestures, facial expressions, and other body language...the less we have to think about how we communicate with a computer, the more useful it will be to us.

But keep in mind that "how we communicate" depends on a number of different variables: our own personal preferences (talk, write, or type; listen or read), the context in which we need to communicate (quiet or noisy room; alone or with others around), and the nature of what we are communicating (a single direction; responding to e-mail; drafting a manuscript; brainstorming ideas). The idea is not to supplant, say, typing with speech recognition, but to augment it -- add it to the computer's repetoire. The more choices we have for interacting with these machines, the more readily we will be able to do so. And the more effective tools they will become.

Just a little philosophical musing on a Sunday afternoon... ;)

eric_n_dfw

Mar 2, 2003, 09:49 PM

Originally posted by edenwaith
What about when one says the word "there". Perhaps they meant "they're" or "their". That certainly makes it difficult for the computer to comprehend at times.

Plus comma who would want to have to keep saying the punctuation marks question mark
I've used IBM ViaVoice on the PC a couple times, and it handles the there, they're, their issue very well. Natural language recognition software is made to understand the context of the word's it hears so that it can make just those decisions.

Your second point (of what I quoted above) is one of my pet peeves, I hate having to dictate punctuation and paragraph endings and what not.

Phil Of Mac

Mar 2, 2003, 10:59 PM

What if you actually want to input the word "comma"? What then?

MacQuest

Mar 2, 2003, 11:17 PM

Originally posted by edenwaith
A display which can rotate? Now where have we seen one of those before?

if you are referring to the failure that is the Tablet PC, then this is just another example of a good idea that is poorly implemented by the Windows community.

Apple's version of a tablet computer or whatever this ends up being, without question, will be a much more full featured as well as aesthetlically pleasing device. The same way that Apple pushed the envelope with the iPod by taking an existing, poorly implemented technology and making it a lot better.

edenwaith

Mar 3, 2003, 01:36 AM

Originally posted by MacQuest
if you are referring to the failure that is the Tablet PC, then this is just another example of a good idea that is poorly implemented by the Windows community.

Actually, I was referring to the iMac, since the display can rotate on its 'neck'.

As for getting speech recognition software to understand the word "comma", perhaps someone just needs to spell it out: c-o-m-m-a.

foniks2020

Mar 3, 2003, 02:22 AM

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
Uh, most people.

Keyboards are a fast and efficient way of inputting text. Assuming they could perfect voice recognition, how can you edit and punctuate with voice commands with nearly as much ease as you can type? I'm sure many people don't like to type, but I can't imagine why. I probably have the world's worst motor skills (not counting those with neurological disorders) but I can still type with ease. Especially on my Dvorak keyboard. I can at least type better than I can speak out loud. Certainly you can speak faster than you can type, but typing has many advantages to speech recognition. Anyone who thinks keyboards will fall into disuse is probably wrong.

I never said you wouldn't use a keyboard. I implied that people don't like using a keyboard.

What I was referring to is that for most people speech IS a much faster way of expressing lots of content quickly. No matter how fast you can type people will always be faster talkers.

Now what I was thinking of is that you could use this to quickly compose your thoughts or take many quick notes over time or just spew out random crap AND record it digitally and quickly.

There is always a need to EDIT. Even the fastest typers (IMO especially the fastest) go back and do things like SPELL CHECK, grammer checks, and editing for clarity of thought. So you go back with a keyboard while you're re-reading and edit it. Actually, editing is what the keyboard is really really good for.

Anyways, there are plenty of people who find using speech recognition to be preferable to typing.

Finally, it's all about the PORTABLE factor.... speaking will always be the best 'hands-free' input method ;-p trump that one...

foniks2020

Mar 3, 2003, 02:37 AM

Originally posted by edenwaith
Actually, I was referring to the iMac, since the display can rotate on its 'neck'.

Yes the iMac has a 'rotating' display but don't you people think that a hand held device is the ultimate 'rotating' display, seeing as how it has the rotation capabilities of your hand... ie: 360 degrees on any axis plus the rotation of your elbow and your shoulder (super-rotation)?

Originally posted by edenwaith

As for getting speech recognition software to understand the word "comma", perhaps someone just needs to spell it out: c-o-m-m-a.

Meta words are better than spelling it out. Say a meta word like 'punctuate' then 'comma'. The software takes 'punctuate' as a queue to listen for 'comma' 'period' 'question' or any of the other marks. If you say something else it assumes you want it to record the word 'punctuate' instead. This is used successfully in other applications like in using mouse gestures where a click-hold-gesture opportunity lasts for a pre-determined amount of time (5 secs is default) then becomes a normal click-hold.

foniks2020

Mar 3, 2003, 02:43 AM

Originally posted by Teqanjel
"The problem with computers is that they do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do."

This old quote (by whom, I don't know) demonstrates why the biggest problem with computers is the interface -- telling the computer what you want, the computer telling you what it wants. The main reason why the graphic user interface was such a breakthrough was because it took a giant step in the direction of allowing us to communicate with these machines more "naturally" -- pointing at something rather than describing what we want with unnatural, often arcane commands. The more we can interact with computers the ways we interact with other human beings, the more people will feel comfortable with them, the more people will use them...the more people will buy them.

Apple has always stressed this approach, beginning with their Human Interface Guidelines of years past. Handwriting recognition, speech recognition, perhaps eventually things like recognition of gestures, facial expressions, and other body language...the less we have to think about how we communicate with a computer, the more useful it will be to us.

But keep in mind that "how we communicate" depends on a number of different variables: our own personal preferences (talk, write, or type; listen or read), the context in which we need to communicate (quiet or noisy room; alone or with others around), and the nature of what we are communicating (a single direction; responding to e-mail; drafting a manuscript; brainstorming ideas). The idea is not to supplant, say, typing with speech recognition, but to augment it -- add it to the computer's repetoire. The more choices we have for interacting with these machines, the more readily we will be able to do so. And the more effective tools they will become.

Just a little philosophical musing on a Sunday afternoon... ;)

Thank you. Well said.

Dunepilot

Mar 3, 2003, 03:05 AM

Originally posted by dstorey
well that could be an option when it becomes fully intergrated with iLife ;) As well as .mac access, a 1-click system will be incorperated that sends your movie/music to playboy enterprises and in three working days you get a proffesionaly produced top shelf dvd delivered to your door...or you could produce it in iMovie for free...just for the budding prawn enthusiasts. In all seriousness that is a disturbing suggestion... herbie hancock indeed..

you know what I mean - Herbie must have spawned a thousand imitators who are today gainfully employed in a certain pr0n 'industry'

:D

iSegway

Mar 3, 2003, 03:05 AM

Ok, here is the problem... no one wants to write out all their emails by hand on a tablet pc, right?

Well, what if you used voice recognition and pen input together? Would both of these combined be better, or equivalent to typing?

Now keep in mind I have never used a voice recognition program so I don't know if they use a system like this or not.

So... here is what I envision..

Tablet pc using stylus for punctiation, either touch screen icons for comma, period, etc. etc.. Or you could manually write those puntuatationmarks in. This could also be used for odd(made-up) words or markings.

Now, VR is say 90% accurate, right? So how about if when you spoke each word, multiple words that were similar were displayed in a list below the words dictated? So you say "cat", the program types the word "chat" on the screen accidentally but lists several words that you could have meant underneath, in the order of probability. So, listed below Chat, is cat , flat, rat, spat, mat( these are just examples). So out of the list you would just touch the actual word with your stylus and it would be selected rather than the word accidentally dictated. This system still might be slow, I don't know.

Now, another idea I have that deals with background noise is a device that pilots use.... It is called a "throat mic". Pretty self explanatory right? It is a mike that is worn like a choker, you know those tight black band-like things that girls wear but with microphones built into it. This is used to get rid of the background noise of the aircraft motor. So why not use that for this application? I envision ultra sensitive mircophones built in these throat mics, so you could essentially whisper if you were around other people. This system might even be almost inaudible to someone around you at a coffee shop or at work or whatever. Now ideally this would be bluetooth enabled to get rid of those nasty cords. It could also have earphones coming off of the throat mic "choker" to your ears. I don't lnow if this could be made small enough to not look ridiculous while wearing it or not. Who knows, it might even beome fashionable! :P

A more unusual idea, and one that I am not aware of being tried, is to create an entire language that is ideally suited for voice recognition. Does anyone know if this has been toyed with? Would there be any benefits to trying something like this? Or are the problems more so with the speaker rather than the language itself? If a language could be created that made inaccuracies almost nonexistant, it could become an international language shared by all countries. I know... this idea is little far-fetched. :P

zon7

Mar 3, 2003, 03:35 AM

Originally posted by Sol
I do not understand why two microphones are necessary for speech recognition. The only theory I have about this is that one microphone would pick up the person speaking and the other would pick up the background noise.

It's very easy if you know about signal processing. There is an operation called correlation that return its higher value when the two signals are more similar to each other. As two micros will capture diferent noie, using the correlation and after that other easy operations, you'll be able to filter the noise received by the two micros and have a very acceptable voice signal.

PaisanoMan

Mar 3, 2003, 03:55 AM

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet, but these patents do come with illustrations.

Page six of the patent shows a very ... crude diagram of what appears to be Mac II (okay, so it's just a symbol for a computer), with a monitor that rotates about a specific axis [909]. The iMac's monitor rotates precisely about that axis (and others). Perhaps this is planned for use in a future iMac.

The rotating monitor is clearly labeled in the patent as a "monitor," so I don't really see any evidence for a tablet.

dstorey

Mar 3, 2003, 05:02 AM

Originally posted by edenwaith
I What about when one says the word "there". Perhaps they meant "they're" or "their". That certainly makes it difficult for the computer to comprehend at times.

Plus comma who would want to have to keep saying the punctuation marks question mark

Thats where Natural Language Processing comes in. One of the options I could have taken at uni. It's related to AI, and basically if the computer is given the rules of a language then it should be able to tell what word you mean by the word order. Like you don't say 'Give them back they're book' for example. I can't see punctuation being a problem either. That can be done automatically if the computer knows the rules of grammar, and by the iotation in your voice and your use of natural pauses as you speak. It would probably be better at grammar than a lot of people, including me, if it is done right.

Pedro Estarque

Mar 3, 2003, 10:00 AM

This should be interesting if it happens, and possible a serious treat to privacy. Offices would be a much noisier place, even for those used to windtunel macs.
Imagine you speaking out loud an email to your girl friend. Besides, my grandmother would really think I lost my mind after hearing me speak such intimately with my mac .:)

Awimoway

Mar 3, 2003, 10:13 AM

Some of the Sony PDAs have revolving screens:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start;sid=Na1p6ak_GGBpy5dcSrdj4uYxsKhxcGmpimw=?Dept=hp&CatalogCategoryID=hO4KC0%2eN7AoAAADzP5IE_KQI

pgwalsh

Mar 3, 2003, 11:05 AM

Apple is using voice recognition technology in the mail apple for spam filtering. Well, that's what Phil Schiller said at MYSF. In terms of licensing it make sense if they use the technology to write emails or in some other way.

Snowy_River

Mar 3, 2003, 11:15 AM

Originally posted by edenwaith
What about when one says the word "there". Perhaps they meant "they're" or "their". That certainly makes it difficult for the computer to comprehend at times.

I know that there have been other replies to this already, but I just thought that I'd say that the "there"/"their"/"they're" issue is one of my biggest pet peeves when reading emails or posts to forums such as these. I think that for many, many people letting the computer decide which to use would actually be more likely to get it right.

As to the speed question, as an interesting side-light, it's interesting to note that the average spoken word is somewhere around 200 words per minute. Half a century ago (back when typing was a bit less editable than it is now, with all of our fancy word processors and such), a good secretary could type at around 100 to 120 words per minute. An excellent secretary could type more than 200 words per minute (i.e. faster than the average spoken word). So, typing fast and accurately is quite possible, though I've never known someone who could type that fast. (The fastest typist that I know is my sister, who can type around 100 to 120 wpm).

backdraft

Mar 3, 2003, 12:03 PM

Originally posted by awulf
Wouldn't a rotating Microphone be a bit weird and expensive?

Well the iMac has a built in microphone and the lcd monitor rotates along with the mic.

:D

pncc

Mar 3, 2003, 01:10 PM

I think the point of multiple mics on a rotating surface is to "tune" the microphone to the user's position for best noise cancellation effectiveness.

I also think a combination of voice and pen input would be a truly practical method of computer input. This could definitely be done with a tablet.

I think this is being positioned for a tablet.

GeneR

Mar 3, 2003, 01:41 PM

dongmin

Mar 3, 2003, 02:21 PM

Originally posted by GeneR
I agree.

Although I have long believed that voice recognition is the way to go for PDAs like a new version of the iPod that would allow you to record your voice/notes/dictations. If a PDA had a great VR software we'd be all pretty excited (I think). However, we will just have to wait and see if this ever happens.

As much as I like the idea of iPod doing voice recognition as an input method, I don't think this particular patent applies to the iPod, PDAs, or any other device that small.

The technology described in the patent clearly requires a minimum of two microphones. There would be no point to putting two microphones on the ipod display because it's so small. Whether this technology is for filtering noise or for locating the sound source, the mics would have to be some distance apart to be effective, like the 17" iMac for example.

GeneR

Mar 3, 2003, 06:12 PM

Sorry, I thought this thread included PDAs and iPods. :D

Phil Of Mac

Mar 3, 2003, 07:43 PM

Originally posted by foniks2020
Meta words are better than spelling it out. Say a meta word like 'punctuate' then 'comma'. The software takes 'punctuate' as a queue to listen for 'comma' 'period' 'question' or any of the other marks. If you say something else it assumes you want it to record the word 'punctuate' instead. This is used successfully in other applications like in using mouse gestures where a click-hold-gesture opportunity lasts for a pre-determined amount of time (5 secs is default) then becomes a normal click-hold.

WHAT IF YOU WANT TO WRITE THE WORD "PUNCTUATE"!? That's NINE letters! "COMMA" is FIVE letters! YOU JUST LOST FOUR LETTERS THERE!!!!

AUUUUUUUGHHHH!!!!!!!!!! STOPPP IT NOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!

AllenPSU

Mar 4, 2003, 12:53 AM

Sounds a lot like phase tuning. Wonder how much CPU power its going to take.

mondo

Mar 4, 2003, 01:26 AM

Originally posted by Winston Smith
Rather than concentrate on it being used for a cool new device, surely this sort of technology fits with everything Apple makes.
How long have PC's totally depended on the GUI as the main point of difference; M$ is stuffed when you wake up and say " open safari, goto Macrumors.com" while your making your first cup of coffee!:cool:

I just did this a few minutes ago using ViaVoice. "Open Safari" then "Jump to MacSurfer" and "scroll down" when I'd read the screen. It really was that easy and I'm dictating this message right now.

By the way, what someone else said about Apple not having done anything with voice recognition for some time isn't quite true. They've added a "Front window" feature that allows you to speak any command available where ever you are. There is a visible listing that changes dynamically as you move from place to place.

it's too bad that ViaVoice and Apple's voice-recognition still can't be used simultaneously because of problems with microphone arbitration. Put the two together and you have complete control over the computer by voice.

wrylachlan

Mar 4, 2003, 03:54 PM

GeneR

Mar 5, 2003, 01:12 PM

[i/]Or

GeneR

Mar 5, 2003, 01:13 PM

Could this technology be used to make a really usefull dictation engine for an iPod? My thought is an iPod with two tiny microphones, one in each of the upper corners. It takes dictation in stereo, and when you plug it into your Mac it turns it into text with much better accuracy than single mic recorders... thoughts?

I think a few people (myself included) have mentioned this idea but I don't think it was well received by the larger community on this site. I think a lot of people thought it was unrealistic and unreliable due to the current state of voice recognition software today. However, I sure hope they do this. I think it is the really best alternative to having a keyboard attachment, or one of those short hand techniques which still requires your undivided attention as you scribble into your PDA. But that's my thoughts. I guess "great" minds think alike! :D