Star Trek Software and Technology

The blogosphere has been inundated lately with people talking about the Star Trek 45th anniversary, and I have to admit I have been intrigued with some of the coverage, like the Star Trek Gadgets That Are No Longer Fiction list that Mashable put out, which is what leads me to software. It is absolutely amazing to think of how far software and technology has taken us in its short lifetime. How much longer before all of our once wildest fantasies become possible?

The computer on the deck of the Enterprise that answers to voice commands always seemed so convenient. We are approaching this type of technology already with voice activation. We've already seen voice activation being used with programs like Express Dictate. And we certainly take our technology with us by loading apps to our cell phones and tablets (see our pocket software including WavePad audio editor for the iPhone and iPad), not to be confused with communicators, tricorders audio the pad of the star fleet. We might not have transporters or replicators just yet, but new hardware and software is being created every day, so I can't help but wonder how close to the mark we will make it by the time we really do reach the 24th century.

Voice Command Dictation

Did you know that you can set up custom voice commands to control dictation recording in Express Dictate? Express Dictate works with your computer's speech recognition engine so you can have hands-free control while dictating to write notes, flip through files, or to just relax a little.

To set up this feature you first need to configure your computer's speech recognition engine. Express Dictate requires a SAPI 5 compatible speech engine�but don�t worry if you don't know what this means�if you have either Windows Vista or Windows 7 you already have a speech engine that meets this requirement. To configure your speech engine, go to your system�s control panel (found from the Windows Start menu) and click Ease of Access, then Speech Recognition Options, then Start Speech Recognition. You�ll go through guided steps that will teach your computer to recognize your voice and accent.

Once you have finished that, Express Dictate will also be able to recognize your voice. To set up your custom dictation commands, open the Voice Commands tab in the Options dialog of Express Dictate and make sure the Enable voice commands box is checked. Click the Add button to create a new command, type in the spoken phrase you want Express Dictate to recognize and select the command it should trigger from the pull-down list by clicking in the Command column. Try to select voice commands that you aren't likely to use while dictating to avoid any unwanted program activity, yet specific enough that you will remember what they refer to. Once you're done, starting to record can be as easy as simply saying "Record."

To try out the new speech commands for yourself, download Express Dictate dictation software today and enjoy the added freedom of having hands-free control.

Express Scribe Transcription Using Voice Recognition

We stumbled upon a great article this week by Ryan Dube on makeuseof.com teaching readers how to use Express Scribe with voice recognition to optimize dictation.

In order to use this feature, you'll need to begin by turning speech recognition on both in Express Scribe and in your PC's control panel. To do this, begin by clicking on the Ease of Access button in your control panel and then select Speech Recognition. From there you can start the speech recognition engine and begin to familiarize your computer with your voice. Note that it can take time to train your computer to the ranges and pitches in your voice, so you may need to do this multiple times, being sure to speak clearly.

After that, open up Express Scribe and go to the Options menu and click on the Speech to Text tab. The default speech profile should show up in the drop-down menu, select this and click the Add button to begin using it.

To make a live recording, plug in your microphone and click Dock and choose the Audio Cable option. There will be a screen that appears titled Dock (Audio Cable). This shows you your microphone's audio levels � you can now begin dictating.

You can also do the same thing with a recording of your voice. Just follow the same steps, but instead of connecting your microphone you'll connect your recording device to the microphone input.

Learn more about Express Scribe Transcription Software and our other Dictation software. You can also check out Dube's full article How To Use Voice To Text Dictation With Express Scribe and we'll keep our eyes open for more new and interesting ways to our software to share with you in the future.