I am writing an open source voice keyboard/dictation frontend (see http://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=4951995 for details). The goal is to be a total substitute for a keyboard -- the motivation is that my hands hurt when i type, so i am trying to completely avoid typing.
which microphone should i purchase? i already have a cheap one, but i guess i should get a better one. i suppose a high quality, comfortable headset is what i should look for?
i suppose i don't have super stringent noise cancellation requirements, however with my current cheap microphone, creaks from my chair and typing noise get misrecognized -- i'm not sure if that is the sort of thing that noise cancellation helps with, but if so, that would be nice. it would be nice if someone else could be in the room talking to me without the computer going crazy, but it's not essential.
since i will be wearing this all day, comfort is the most important factor.
anyone have any general comments or advice? is there anything wrong with any of the models that i mentioned above? are the wireless models significantly more comfortable, or do i not need wireless (after all, i will not be mobile -- i will be sitting in a chair in front of the computer)? do the wireless models have lower quality? is the Sennheiser ME3 a good bet? is the Sennheiser ME3 comfortable enough for all day use?
thanks,
bayle
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Most people are missed this one like I :) Dictation application is interesting really. We are looking forward to see the code. The earlier the better I think.
> i'm not sure if that is the sort of thing that noise cancellation helps with
Posterior probability like confidence score is used for dropping false hypothesis.
> anyone have any general comments or advice?
Actually microphone doesn't affect much. Any descent USB headset without noise from computer circuts will give you acceptable quality, the only requirement is that it must be comfortable for you. As a developer I wouldn't recommend you to buy even M3. You can't expect your users will buy 150$ microphone so it's much better to use what they will use instead.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
sorry for the delay. i would like to fiddle with the language model a bit more before showing it to you -- currently my lm has some obvious problems that i think i know how to fix. in addition i plan to rewrite the program -- the current version was mostly written with my foot because no voice recognition was yet available -- hence i economized on keystrokes at the expense of good design. and then i will document it.
however because this is taking so long i figured that i should post the current version. here it is:
hello,
I am writing an open source voice keyboard/dictation frontend (see http://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=4951995 for details). The goal is to be a total substitute for a keyboard -- the motivation is that my hands hurt when i type, so i am trying to completely avoid typing.
which microphone should i purchase? i already have a cheap one, but i guess i should get a better one. i suppose a high quality, comfortable headset is what i should look for?
various web pages (e.g. http://speechrecsolutions.com/microphone_selection_guide.htm, https://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/product_detail.asp?subcatID=1, http://www.speechcomputing.com/node/784) seem to say that the Sennheiser ME3 is the highest quality, so i am thinking of getting that. i have also read good things about the Andrea 700s, the VXI TalkPros, the emkey 3185, the Plantronics CS*, the Sennheiser 146, 156 and the Sennheiser BW900 (above links, and also http://www.pcspeak.com/hints/general/hardware/microphones.shtml).
i suppose i don't have super stringent noise cancellation requirements, however with my current cheap microphone, creaks from my chair and typing noise get misrecognized -- i'm not sure if that is the sort of thing that noise cancellation helps with, but if so, that would be nice. it would be nice if someone else could be in the room talking to me without the computer going crazy, but it's not essential.
since i will be wearing this all day, comfort is the most important factor.
anyone have any general comments or advice? is there anything wrong with any of the models that i mentioned above? are the wireless models significantly more comfortable, or do i not need wireless (after all, i will not be mobile -- i will be sitting in a chair in front of the computer)? do the wireless models have lower quality? is the Sennheiser ME3 a good bet? is the Sennheiser ME3 comfortable enough for all day use?
thanks,
bayle
> I am writing an open source voice keyboard/dictation frontend (see http://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=4951995 for details).
Most people are missed this one like I :) Dictation application is interesting really. We are looking forward to see the code. The earlier the better I think.
> i'm not sure if that is the sort of thing that noise cancellation helps with
Posterior probability like confidence score is used for dropping false hypothesis.
> anyone have any general comments or advice?
Actually microphone doesn't affect much. Any descent USB headset without noise from computer circuts will give you acceptable quality, the only requirement is that it must be comfortable for you. As a developer I wouldn't recommend you to buy even M3. You can't expect your users will buy 150$ microphone so it's much better to use what they will use instead.
sorry for the delay. i would like to fiddle with the language model a bit more before showing it to you -- currently my lm has some obvious problems that i think i know how to fix. in addition i plan to rewrite the program -- the current version was mostly written with my foot because no voice recognition was yet available -- hence i economized on keystrokes at the expense of good design. and then i will document it.
however because this is taking so long i figured that i should post the current version. here it is:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=227605
Looks interesting, thanks.