[MV] Re: Comparing iListen and ViaVoice in 2004...

thechuck at mac.com thechuck at mac.com
Wed Jan 21 13:50:38 PST 2004 

All:

My accuracy jumped considerably when I upgraded to iListen 1.6. I don't 
know what happened under the hood to cause this, but it sure was 
welcomed.

Keep in mind that there are quite a few variables that affect accuracy 
- not the least of which is the user's voicel. Trying to determine 
which engine is more accurate is a little like trying to quantify the 
effectiveness of vitamin C in fighting the common cold. For some 
people, it works wonders. For others, it has no effect at all (while a 
small percentage of the population are actually allergic to it!).

Each product starts with a base voice model. If your voice is closer to 
the ViaVoice base model, it will take less effort to make ViaVoice work 
well for you. The same is true with iListen. Since the two products 
have different base models, one person may find ViaVoice more accurate 
while another finds iListen better.

The bottom line is that either program can be trained to perform 
equally well over time. I urge all who own a version of iListen prior 
to 1.6 not to base your opinions of the product on what you have 
experienced so far. Comparing iListen 1.5 to 1.6 is a little like 
comparing ViaVoice Enhanced Edition to version 3 for Mac OS X.

In the long haul I think everyone will be better off with iListen — and 
not just because ViaVoice is no longer being improved. Here's why: 
iListen 1.6.x actually learns when you employ the built-in correction. 
When in the Correction window, if you enter a word iListen doesn't know 
you will immediately be offered the opportunity to add it to the 
vocabulary.

Is Correction in iListen cumbersome? Perhaps. But it is certainly no 
more cumbersome than using ViaVoice's SpeakPad. If you think of 
Correction as a version of SpeakPad integrated in such a way that it 
interacts with whatever application you are in, its use becomes a much 
more pleasant alternative.

Regarding accuracy, I am consistently getting above 95% - and keep in 
mind I really don't use iListen much for dictation (I use it mostly for 
command & control). Once you reach a level of  accuracy with which you 
are satisfied, simply stop using Correction and fix misunderstood words 
and phrases by hand.

For those interested in more details on how iListen works, there is a 
lengthy technote on the subject on the MacSpeech web site at 
<http://www.macspeech.com/edits/technotes/iWorks.html>. It is a little 
dated — I don't think the references to processing time are as relevant 
under Mac OS X — but it is still a good read.

Best Regards,

Chuck Rogers


On Jan 21, 2004, at 2:48 PM, David K. Wehe wrote:

>
> Opinions vary.  I use them both frequently, but primarily iListen for 
> short e-mails that I quickly manually correct as I go because it is so 
> fast.  ViaVoice is much more accurate for me, particularly in 
> SpeakPad.  If it is going to be more than a paragraph, it'll be via 
> ViaVoice.  Again, I find manual correction to be quicker.  Since 
> ViaVoice doesn't learn except by adding new words, there isn't much 
> benefit in automated correction.
>
> It is too bad that we can't give the better speech engine and library 
> from IBM to the dedicated folks at iListen.  MacSpeech clearly cares 
> deeply about their product and customers.
>
> David.
>
> We can't do much about the speech product accuracy, but we can control 
> the sound input we provide.  I still wonder if there is much variation 
> in recognition accuracy between Andrea, Shure, and Parrot. The on-off 
> switch makes the Andrea my choice, and I haven't seen any improvement 
> using the other models mentioned.  Is this a common finding?
>
>
>
>> WAS: Re: [MV] Re: iListen 1.6.4 - VV & Panther
>>
>> On 1/20/04 3:01 PM, "JSenecal at aol.com" <JSenecal at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>>  I used to use ViaVoice for dictating program code, but since the 
>>> release
>>>  of iListen 1.6, I've been using iListen instead. I found Via Voice 
>>> easier
>>>  to use when dictating into it's own Speak Pad application, but for
>>>  dictation into other applications, iListen works much better for me.
>>
>> Interesting.  I'm curious to hear about comparisons between iListen 
>> and
>> ViaVoice 3.x in 2004 running on Panther 10.3.2. Basically, I own them 
>> both,
>> however my version of iListen is very old and I stopped using it 
>> after the
>> first couple of revisions because at the time, ViaVoice worked much 
>> better
>> for me.  So basically I'm curious to compare them with the newest 
>> version:
>> iListen 1.6.4...
>>
>> -  As was stated, there will be no further upgrades for ViaVoice - so 
>> I
>> imagine it will become more buggy over time with the newer systems.
>> -   Surprisingly - I have found that ViaVoice still works good in 
>> Panther.
>> However, I have found that the accuracy is far higher in the SpeakPad
>> program - then outside of it.
>>
>> In my experience with ViaVoice - I find that in SpeakPad I can get 95
>> percent accuracy or better sometimes! the accuracy is much lower 
>> without
>> SpeakPad...  Maybe somewhere around 85 percent or so.
>>
>> Q:  iListen 1.6.4 - Given that you have successfully trained it and 
>> are
>> doing corrections as you go - what is the general accuracy during 
>> regular
>> use? 80%? 90%? 95%? BETTER?.....
>>
>> Q:  Correction mode is pretty easy in SpeakPad. Originally, a lot of 
>> people
>> on this list were complaining about correction mode in earlier 
>> versions of
>> iListen... So how cumbersome is correction mode now?
>>
>> I would welcome any other comparisons between the two programs.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Thanks - RevDave
>> Lists at domains4days.com
>> [db-lists]
>>
>> Check out some great Domain Names at:
>> http://www.domains4days.com
>>
>>
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