MacBook and MacSpeech Dictate Make A Dynamic Dictation Duo [Updated}
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
by Charles W. Moore
I got along quite happily through the first three years of the MacIntel era sticking with a 1.33 GHz G4 PowerBook, which continued to offer pretty satisfactory performance for my purposes throughout, and I didn’t perceive myself to be missing a whole lot except for one particular software application — MacSpeech Dictate.
I been a dictation software user, indeed somewhat dependent on it, for more than a decade, using a number of voice recognition software applications, but principally MacSpeech’s iListen. I have been reasonably satisfied with iListen, but in early 2007, MacSpeech released a completely new dictation application called Dictate, based on the superb and theretofore Windows-only Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech engine, to an enthusiastic reception, but Dictate only supports Intel-based Macs.
By all accounts (at least all I encountered), Dictate had ratcheted up the Mac speech recognition game by more than a few notches, and when I finally did take the platform plunge to an Intel-based Mac back in February, one of the things I most eagerly looked forward to was giving dictate a whirl.
I wasn’t disappointed.
iListen was pretty good dictation software, but Dictate is great dictation software, and the combination of the powerful, accurate, and fast NaturallySpeaking speech engine with MacBook Core 2 Duo power is a marriage of software and hardware made in heaven. Dictate running on my 2.0 GHz unibody MacBook isn’t just convenient and helpful in a utilitarian sense — it’s genuinely fun to use, and for anyone with a need or desire for a compact, powerful voice recognition platform, I could hardly recommend the combination of Dictate and Mac book too highly.
While I expect you could get reasonably satisfactory performance from Dictate on a MacBook Air, I haven’t tried it, and the MacBook — either the aluminum model like mine or the entry - level white plastic-bodied model, offers the advantages of a faster 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo processor (and 2.4 GHz as well on the higher-end unibody), two USB ports to the Air’s lonely one, and headroom to upgrade your RAM to 4 GB or 6 GB from the standard 2 GB, expansion latitude the Air doesn’t support, although I have been getting along quite well so far with 2 GB.
The second USB port is relevant because Dictate ships with a Plantronics USB headset microphone, which I’m finding excellent both for performance and comfort.
While my own interest in dictation software, at least originally, stemmed from my chronic health issues, dictation programs actually address a variety of users along a spectrum from “need” to “want.” The most intense sort of quote “need” is for people with major disabilities who simply cannot type. Then there are folks like me for whom typing is possible, but less than comfortable, increasingly so when done for long periods of time, and for whom speech recognition makes computing and composing prose much more pleasant and less painful. As the MacSpeech folks observe, given enough hours of straight typing, just about anyone can fit in that category. Then there are those who are motivated by the potential for increased productivity — writers who find oral composition flows naturally, and just anyone who discovers that entering words into electronic documents my voice can be substantially faster than even a very proficient typist working on a keyboard. MacSpeech Dictate is designed to accommodate users in all those categories.
Speech recognition software used for dictation is more complex than most other pieces of consumer software, and with arguably more quote moving parts” then in just about any other kind of application software.
When dictating to your computer, it is necessary to speak the punctuation, which I’ve never found terribly difficult to get onto, although on occasion I have absentmindedly, particularly when reading aloud, started pronouncing punctuation when addressing fellow human beings.
Dictate’s Notepad application, according to MacSpeech, will always provide the most optimized results, particularly when executing advanced features, complicated navigation, and massive amounts of editing with your voice. However, I’ve found performance quite satisfactory in my favorite application for composition and editing, Tex Edit Plus, which in my case has the advantage of heavy AppleScript customization.
MacSpeech vigorously discourages using a hybrid mode of partly dictation and partly keyboarding and/or mousing, maintaining that alternation between speech recognition and keyboard/mouse is “a fantastic way to confuse the software.” I’ve been trying to break myself of the habit, and I perceive that Dictate’s very lively responsiveness is going to help greatly with that effort, but thus far I still tend to get impatient and resort to the keyboard and mouse selection for editing and correction.
Dictate has four modes: Dictation Mode, Command Mode, Spelling Mode, and Sleep Mode. Dictation Mode is self-explanatory but while you’re in it you can also issue commands, while in Command Mode the program recognizes and executes only commands and can be considered “Command Only” Mode. Spelling Mode is new and perhaps not quite as sophisticated lead developed so far as some of the program’s other features, A completely new Spelling Mode made its debut with MacSpeech Dictate 1.2, allowing users to spell words, names, or acronyms by using either natural language or the International Radio Alphabet. Sleep Mode simply lets you toggle the microphone and application on and off.
Another new feature introduced with MacSpeech Dictate 1.2 is phrase training, which helps you increase accuracy by letting you train your voice profile as you proceed. MacSpeech notes that most of the speech recognition industry refers to this feature as “correction” which is accurate in the sense that it can indeed be used to correct text in your documents, but the company contends that this descriptor somewhat misses the point because ongoing training also helps refine MacSpeech Dictate’s ability to recognize what you intended to say. With phrase training you’re not stuck with the level of accuracy from your initial voice training until you take the time to read more training stories, and you don’t have to specifically train the recognition engine from a document or selection. Instead, you can train a phrase immediately when you see it was misrecognized. Then the next time you dictate that phrase or word in the phrase, MacSpeech Dictate is more likely to recognize it accurately.
The way you proceed with this is when you notice that the program’s transcription has misinterpreted a word, for example substituting the word “cause” when you intended to say “pause,” while in Dictation Mode say “select the word cause.” Confirm that the word has been correctly selected, then say “pause” and check to ensure that the word actually has been changed to “pause.” That’s all there is to it.
Spelling Mode and Phrase Training work much the same way. You pause between navigation or spelling/correction instructions and general dictation in order to allow the program to distinguish between the two.
With Phrase Training, you speak the phrase you want to train, then open the recognition window and which will display several possibilities from among which you can select the correct phrase using its respective button, or say “edit one” “spelling mode” [ pause ] and spell out your words. MacSpeech notes that sometimes it can take two or more attempts before Dictate learns to properly recognize a particular phrase.
Yet another addition to Dictate 1.2 was the “New Move Command” which facilitates more sophisticated navigation within a document than was supported by the initial Dictate versions and iListen before them.
[Update - The day fater this review was posted, MacSpeech released a major Dictate upgrade to Version 1.5, which I wll be reviewing in the fullness of time. Meanwhile, I'm appending the Dictate 1.5 press release at the end of this article, which outlines the changes and improvements with this version.]
Installation is reasonably straightforward, although it does involve inserting two installation disks in sequence, and the data files one takes quite a while to export its contents to your hard drive. You’re also obliged to register the software at installation time, which requires an active Internet connection. Leading me to wonder what one is supposed to do if they don’t have access to any Internet connection.
Once the installation process is complete, it will be necessary to train the program to recognize your voice efficiently. However, this step is not nearly as time-consuming or onerous as it once was. I’m getting just amazing accuracy after only reading the five-minute initial training story, a treatise on speech recognition. Transcription speed is close to real time even with the modest 2 MB of RAM I have in this machine - much better than the previous high water mark of ViaVoice X in its day.
Once installed, initially trained, and down to business, most apt descriptive for Dictate that springs to mind is “effortless.” With iListen, even at its best in version 1.8, on my G4 laptops one always felt like there was work and effort involved using it. You had to remain conscious of sloppy pronunciation and so forth, Which can be a challenge late at night when you’re already propping your eyelids open with toothpicks trying to stay lucid to meet a deadline. With Dictate, I’m finding that I can just babble away, and still find accuracy impressive with only the initial five minutes or so of training. The Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech engine is quite obviously superior to the Philips FreeSpeech 2000 Speech Recognition engine used in iListen.
For someone with a physical handicap involving a disability that renders even small amounts of typing difficult, the Command and Spelling modes would be a priceless help.
However, for just about any user, Dictate’s voice transcription capability is a dream come true, and it’s so accurate that not a whole lot of correction is necessary anyway, although at the level of training I’ve given it so far, it does usually require a bit. I also find it useful for instant messaging or composing short emails or whatever if the program is already up and running. It’s seductively slick.
That said, Dictate is not perfect. I wish there was a way to hide the floater control palette (which is a lot prettier than the old one in iListen) when it’s not in use other than closing the program. Working on a 13.3” MacBook screen, one is covetous of every square millimeter of desktop real estate.
The program still takes a relatively long time to start up, which I suppose is somewhat inevitable when it has to load a voice profile and dictionaries before you can get underway, a process limited by the hard drive. Adding more RAM, which I plan to do in the not too distant future, or a 7200 rpm hard drive, which I don’t, would probably speed things up some more.
I wish there were a way to download version updates as standalone installers using a browser. The Dictate 1.3 update, for example, was 12,240k, which translates to about two hours downloading time over my poky dialup connection, and it can’t be paused. For downloads that large, I usually end up wanting to pause the process several times while I attend to other online stuff. However, the update download and install went smoothly and successfully aside from the time involved.
The latest version 1.3 of Dictate will now work with any document, including ones that were not created with Dictate. Dictate 1.3’s new “Cache Document” command allows MacSpeech Dictate to read a document’s contents, in order to navigate the document, and to enter and edit text.
Also introduced with MacSpeech Dictate 1.3 is an extensive new Help Book system, two new visual microphone status indicators, and new commands for “Cache Selection,” “Press The Key,” “Press The Key Combo” and “Cancel Training.”
The new microphone status indicators provide a quick visual cue of whether the microphone is “on” or “off” by quickly looking at either the new Menu Bar status menulet, or the new microphone status badge on the MacSpeech Dictate Dock icon. To augment the User Manual and other helpful resources, Dictate’s new searchable, indexed Help Book for MacSpeech Dictate is now available from the Help menu.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.3 also fixes reported issues, adds several enhancements and is free of charge to all registered customers, using the “Check for Updates” feature I mentioned above.
MacSpeech Dictate has the following system requirements:
• An Intel based Macintosh computer • Mac OS X 10.4.11 “Tiger” or later • Mac OS X 10.5.2 “Leopard” or later • 512MB of RAM (1GB or more for better performance) • 2.0GB of available hard drive spaceMacSpeech Dictate sells for $199 (including the Plantronics headset), and is available from the MacSpeech store at:
http://www.macspeech.com
Addendum - Dictate 1.5 Press Release, May 14, 2009
First Upgrade - MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Ships
by MacSpeech Press
Ð Exciting First Upgrade to MacSpeech Dictate Provides a New Vocabulary Editor, New Accent Options and Greater Accuracy Than Ever Before Ð
SALEM, N.H., May 14, 2009 - MacSpeech, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of MacSpeech Dictate 1.5, the exciting first upgrade to the premier speech recognition solution for the Macintosh, now introducing a new Vocabulary Editor, new English profile options, enhanced accuracy and much more. MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or higher and is available today for US$199 as a new purchase, or US$54.95 for current owners of MacSpeech Dictate.
Now for the first time, MacSpeech Dictate customers can add, delete, manage and train words in their profile's vocabulary using a new Vocabulary Editor. The new Vocabulary Editor also lets people customize behaviors related to the included words, such as capitalization, pronunciation or the use of spacing surrounding the word.
The new MacSpeech Dictate v1.5 provides greater accuracy than ever before. The underlying technology enhancements provide up to 20% more accurate recognition than previous versions. From the initial profile accuracy rate, customers can continue to increase the accuracy rate of their MacSpeech Dictate profile up to 99%. MacSpeech Dictate v1.5 also introduces new profile options for Inland North American, Southern North American, and Latino North American accents.
"Since its introduction, MacSpeech Dictate provided Mac users with unprecedented accuracy, and we improved accuracy even further with version 1.5," explained Andrew Taylor, founder and CEO of MacSpeech, Inc. "MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 advances the state of the technology on the Mac with several important 'under the hood' changes, plus feature additions such as the vocabulary editor, improvements in compatibility with applications, and enhancements to the interface and documentation. We're extremely excited with the across-the-board progress made and thrilled to offer it as our first upgrade."
"In version 1.5, MacSpeech Dictate has gone to a new level," explained George Silverman, president and founder, Market Navigation, Inc. "The new vocabulary editor allows me to train esoteric and unusual words easily. I can even train abbreviations now for some technical writing. It has achieved a level of accuracy that I never would have believed possible."
New compatibility enhancements in version 1.5 for working with Microsoft Word include an automatic execution of the "Cache Document" command any time a Word document is opened while MacSpeech Dictate is launched. Also available on demand, the "Cache Document" command allows MacSpeech Dictate to read a document's contents, in order to navigate the document, and to enter and edit text.
Other enhancements include the addition of top 100 web sites to the "Jump To" command options, a new Save Profile menu item for capturing Phrase Training information prior to Quitting, a new User Manual, and other enhancements and refinements to the user interface for a more efficient, intuitive experience.
"MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 is not only easy to set up and intuitive to use, but just plain fun," proclaimed Michael Wolf, professor, Berlin University of the Arts. "On the rare occasions when recognized text needs to be corrected, the training process is simple and painless. Even those with advanced typing skills will find the program indispensable. Hats off to MacSpeech!"
MacSpeech Dictate is the only desktop speech recognition solution for the Macintosh. MacSpeech Dictate provides unprecedented speech recognition accuracy with minimal training and works with existing Mac applications. MacSpeech Dictate delivers a truly Mac user experience, and conforms to behaviors already familiar to Macintosh fans worldwide. Beyond dictation, MacSpeech Dictate lets people perform basic navigation of their Mac and control it with their voice to launch applications, open new windows, execute menu commands, etc.
Compatibility and Availability
MacSpeech Dictate requires Intel-based Macintosh hardware and requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Leopard) and higher.
New MacSpeech Dictate solutions, with a choice of headsets, are available today starting at US$199. Registered customers of MacSpeech Dictate are eligible to purchase MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 at special upgrade price of US$54.95.
People interested in an upgrade should note that MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 does not run on Tiger. Anyone who registered MacSpeech Dictate on or after April 1, 2009 is eligible to receive a free upgrade, and will be notified automatically via email.
MacSpeech Dictate is currently available in English at http://www.macspeech.com in the U.S., at http://www.macspeech.co.uk in the U.K., and in other English-speaking countries through International resellers and distributors listed at http://www.macspeech.com/resellers/.
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