IBM Reinvents ViaVoice Speech Recognition Software, Making it More Natural, More Productive and Easy To Use
SOMERS, NY (June 08, 1998) – IBM today introduced ViaVoice* 98, the next generation of IBM’s best selling speech recognition software that includes breakthrough technologies designed to deliver simplicity and naturalness while making it easier for individuals to use their computers.
Leading the numerous innovations in ViaVoice 98 are features that provide the PC user with the ability to use Natural Language Commands to create, edit and format documents in Microsoft Word 97** in a more natural way. Applying thousands of variations for computer commands is a breakthrough in usability, providing users with the ability to say what they want to have happen more naturally and the computer will react. Another innovation is the hands-free editing and correction mode into popular applications, including Word 97 and Lotus Word Pro***.
“IBM took a customer-centric approach in developing ViaVoice 98. We talked to thousands of users and leveraged the experience we gained with our best selling ViaVoice products,” said W.S. “Ozzie” Osborne, general manager, IBM Speech Systems. “We believe we offer the most easy to use, powerful, feature-rich software in the industry, which makes it possible for people to interact with their PCs the most natural way. Attention to the user experience is what sets this product apart from all other offerings in the market place.”
ViaVoice 98 Family
The IBM ViaVoice 98 Speech Family consists of three products designed to meet the needs and budget of both the consumer and business customer: IBM ViaVoice 98 Executive Edition, ViaVoice 98 Office Edition and ViaVoice 98 Home Edition.
ViaVoice 98 Executive Edition is IBM’s most powerful continuous speech software and can be the finest productivity tool for writers, executives and experienced PC users. ViaVoice Executive offers direct dictation into most popular Windows applications, voice control of the desktop and applications and includes two Topics — ViaVoice Computer and ViaVoice Business & Finance — which supplement the base vocabulary.
ViaVoice 98 Office Edition is a continuous speech dictation and voice control software tool designed to help maximize the efficiency of a small office/home office user, faculty member and advanced student. Users can supplement their vocabulary with the included ViaVoice Business & Finance Topic.
ViaVoice 98 Home Edition is IBM’s entry-level continuous speech dictation product and is ideal for the family to use to create letters, reports or e-mail at home. ViaVoice 98 Home includes the ViaVoice Cuisine Topic to let users use their voice to write original recipes or make a keepsake of family recipes.
Innovations in Speech – What’s New
IBM ViaVoice 98 includes many new features that are not found in other speech recognition software products.
Natural Language Commands — Users can quickly and easily edit and format text in Microsoft Word 97 by saying commands naturally. A single natural command can be said in a variety of ways. For example, a user can say, “double space this paragraph” or “change the spacing of this paragraph to double” to perform the same task.
Hands-free Correction and Editing — ViaVoice 98 now includes easier to use voice commands, including “select ” on any visible text; “correct this” to use correction pop-up and “scratch that” to delete words spoken since last pause, without having to switch in and out of dictation mode. Users can spell corrections or re-dictate naturally to manage changes.
Modeless Operation — Users can now dictate text and issue commands interchangeably without saying any extra words — just pausing slightly before and after speaking the command. Users will no longer have to recall whether they are in dictation mode or not. Commands to bold, underline, italicize, uppercase, print and more are simply a pause during dictation – visualize it – say it – see it.
Natural Number Formatting — Dictated numbers automatically appear on the screen in the correct format, including dates, currencies, times, weights and measurements. For example, for phone numbers, users can simply say “phone number 9145551212” for it to appear on screen as (914) 555-1212.
“Say What You See” Navigation – On Microsoft Windows 95** and Windows 98** systems where Microsoft Active Accessibility** is supported, Executive and Office Edition users can generally speak menu commands, file names, toolbar buttons, dialogue items and even activate desktop icons — creating a more hands-free experience.
More User Assistance — Start with “What Can I Say,” a unique and useful feature that enables users to explore what commands they can execute in any given application that is active on their desktop. Add “How do I Say?” features and a number of pop-up helpers and multimedia Quick Tours and users have never had so much help before.
Topic Support — Topics are special interest vocabularies that add to the existing base vocabulary and increase accuracy. Users can use one or more in conjunction with their base vocabulary. Each product in the family comes with sample Topics and more can be added by purchase and download from the web. Business & Finance terms and Computer words can be added to the base vocabulary to provide users with greater recognition accuracy. A Topic Factory tool is available to enable developers to create additional specialty Topics for use with ViaVoice 98 products.
VoiceCenter — The VoiceCenter is a single focal area on the desktop that integrates all functions — menu, recognized voice command, status display, microphone button, audio level, help and user name — into a central interface to make it easy to locate the vital information needed.
Windows 98-ready — The first speech recognition product designed ready for the next version of Microsoft’s operating system.
Easy Enrollment — A short two-sentence Quick Training to get started quickly is followed up by a choice of user scripts for enrollment. Users have the option to complete their enrollments in increments as well.
ViaVoice Transcription — Support for a number of hand-held dictation devices is included.
Industry’s Largest Active Vocabulary — 128,000 active vocabulary (64,000 active base vocabulary and 64,000 more user-added words using Vocabulary Expander and Vocabulary Manager) with the ability to include, into the active vocabulary, multiple topics (each Topic can have up to 64,000 words) and a backup vocabulary of 260,000 words.
Industry-Specific Vocabularies — ViaVoice 98 supports industry-specific vocabularies. The first vocabularies will be ViaVoice Medical and ViaVoice Legal in U.S. English. These are specialized vocabularies with 25,000 or more words for use by medical and legal professionals. They will be available in July for $149 (US).
Also, IBM has added a comprehensive User Guide with samples, examples, troubleshooting guides and user-friendly graphics.
Availability and Pricing
IBM ViaVoice 98 Executive and Office Editions will be available first in US English in June. The Executive Edition will be available for $149 (US), with the Office Edition priced at $89 (US). ViaVoice 98 Home Edition is priced at $49.95 (US) and will be available in July. All products come with a noise-canceling headset microphone. IBM will ship the Executive and Home Editions in French, German, Spanish, Italian and UK English, available this fall. Japanese and Chinese versions of the product will be available this summer. A customized, integrated version of IBM ViaVoice will be included with Lotus SmartSuite*** Millennium Edition, which is expected to ship on June 17th.
IBM Speech Recognition Leadership
IBM set the industry standard for speech recognition software when it launched the VoiceType family of products and expanded this standard in 1997 with the introduction of its ViaVoice family of products. With more than 25 years of research in the field, the company has built a team of speech recognition specialists worldwide, dedicated to the development, support, marketing, and sale of IBM speech solutions in many languages. For more information about IBM Speech Systems, visit the World Wide Web at http://www.ibm.com/viavoice.
Source: IBM