THE MAGAZINE FOR COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
Circuit Cellar Online offers articles illustrating creative solutions
and unique applications through complete projects, practical
tutorials, and useful design techniques.

ESCAPE TO SF

by Tom Cantrell

Start ı ıNet Bet ı Memorola ı Hills Are Always Greener ı SHake Up ı Mitsu Who? ı Soft Cell ı Little Lisıner ı Sources and PDF

LITTLE LISıNER

Voice recognition seems like a good example of "tomorrowıs technology of tomorrow." As long as I can remember, every few years thereıs been a new wave of voice recognition gear, and weıre told that the day has arrived when our gadgets will sprout ears. But inevitably, the technology fails to live up to the hype, hype that only furthers usersı unrealistic expectations, thereby setting the stage for the next round of sizzle and fizzle.

Part of the problem is that the citizenry seems fixated on the idea of replacing QWERTY keyboards with the spoken word. The problem is that this particular challenge is quite difficult to achieve technically, and worse, perhaps simply unnecessary. I say you should still make sure your kids learn to type.

Rather than replacing the keyboard, recognition is best applied to doing things a keyboard canıt. Each succeeding generation of technology has found such niches like toys and hands-free dialing.

Check out the latest and greatest from recognition pioneer Sensory. (see Photo 4). The RSC364 is the flagship in their Voice Extreme lineup. Even as I speak (er, type), Iım working on an under-the-hood article, and the results appear promising based on my own experimentation so far.

Photo 4ıTalking chips (i.e., digital audio) were all the rage in the ı90s. But soon, according to Sensory, listening chips will be where the action is.

If the technology succeeds in pushing the speaker independence and vocabulary envelope a little further, I think a whole new wave of applications will open up.

For example, even though everyone laments the loss of human operators, the fact remains that automated call processing is here to stay. Iım sure youıve encountered the directory systems that ask you to peck the first few letters of the desired partyıs last name on your touch-tone keypad. Wouldnıt it be a lot nicer if you could just say the last name?

There are a lot of interesting developments to ponder as I fire up the van and head south. Yes, the dot.coms have dot.gone and the PC market is petrifying, but the excitement on the embedded front continues apace. I may have left my wallet, rather than my heart in San Francisco, but panhandlers, parking hassles, and all, I still canıt wait to go back.

PREVIOUS • NEXT

Circuit Cellar provides up-to-date information for engineers. Visit www.circuitcellar.com for more information and additional articles.
For subscription information, call (860) 875-2199, subscribe@circuitcellar.com or subscribe online. ıCircuit Cellar, the Magazine for Computer Applications. Posted with permission.