Friends, the other day we looked at one of the innovations brought to Windows 10 by the Fall Creators Update - . Microsoft promises support for voice input in Russian in the future, but does not specify whether this future is near or far. Perhaps it will be when Cortana will be able to speak, and most importantly, understand Russian. Waiting for Microsoft to teach Windows 10 to understand ours is not worth it. If something is not in the environment of the system itself, it can almost always be implemented using third-party software tools. Actually, we will talk about them in this article. Below we will consider various ways how you can use the microphone built into a laptop or connected to a PC to enter search queries with your voice and dictate the text of documents.

1. "Ok Alice" and Google voice search for search queries

It is not clear why Google has not yet integrated this technology into the YouTube interface. But in any case, videos can be searched in the search engine itself, pronouncing key queries. Just then you will need to switch to the "Video" tab in the results of the issuance. The lion's share of search results, for obvious reasons, will still be from YouTube.

Those who have already met with - and do not need to go to the search engine site in the browser window. After installing the program, the Yandex search field with the ability to enter queries by voice will appear directly on the Windows taskbar. And Alice will be able to answer rare simple questions without a search engine, without going beyond her dialog box.

2. Web Speech API Web Service from Google

The Web Speech API technology, through which voice input of queries is implemented in the Google search engine, has its own web interface at:

https://www.google.com/intl/ja/chrome/demos/speech.html

The functionality of the service is minimalistic: it has a button to turn on the microphone and the resulting field, where the recognized text will then be displayed.

But this resulting field cannot be edited. As a result, we get the recognition results as they are. And we will be able to edit them only in some text editor or data entry form. The button below the resulting field "Copy and Paste" ends the current input session and automatically puts a selection block on all recognized text. This is done for the convenience of copying to the buffer.

For the recognized text, another option is available, implemented by the button for creating an e-mail. It launches the mail client installed in the Windows environment as such by default, creates a new letter and transfers the recognized text into it.

Notably, the Web Speech API can recognize some punctuation, at least a period and a comma. So during dictations, you can simply pronounce them at the places where periods and commas are inserted.

The lack of the ability to edit text inside the resulting field makes using the Web Speech API not very convenient for large amounts of typing. For lengthy dictations, it's best to use the Google Docs web interface, which has the Web Speech API technology built into it. In "Google Docs" you can enter text by voice, and immediately edit it, and also format the document along the way.

3. "Voice Notepad" on Speechpad.Ru

Based on the Web Speech API technology, there is also a website - the most popular and most functional voice data entry service in Runet "Voice Notepad". Among its main functions:

• Support for multiple languages, including Russian and Ukrainian;
• The resulting voice recognition field with the ability to edit the text, translate it into other languages, upload the results to a TXT file;
• Output of recognized phrases to the clipboard;
• transcription;
• Integration into web forms of Chromium-browsers;
• Integration into Windows and Linux environments.

Plus, in the "Voice Notepad" the voice input option is turned on and off only by pressing the corresponding button. This option does not deactivate by itself, as soon as we think for a while in search of an exact formulation of the thought, as happens in other services based on the Web Speech API.

And we track the recognized text in the resulting field.

4. Integrate Speechpad into Web Browser Forms

After implementing this extension, the "Speechpad" item will appear in the context menu of the text input web forms. Press this button and speak into the microphone. Thus, we can, for example, dictate notes in Google Keep.

5. Integrating Speechpad into the Windows Environment

The capabilities of the "Voice Notepad" web service can be integrated into the Windows environment. And to carry out typing by voice in any program of the operating system - regular notepad, Microsoft Word, other text editors. Recognized speech without the mediation of web services or the clipboard will be inserted directly into the edited documents. However, this function of Speechpad.Ru is not free, and it costs 100 rubles. per month. Savings options are provided: when paying for services immediately for the quarter, the cost will be 250 rubles, and an advance payment for the year will cost 800 rubles. Each registered user can first test the functionality of the service integrated into the environment of his operating system. The creators of Speechpad.Ru offer a two-day trial period for free. How the integration of the "Voice Notepad" into operating systems, in particular, into Windows, is directly carried out is described in detail on the website of Speechpad.Ru itself. Click the question mark next to the integration option.

And we go through all the steps described in the instructions:

• Install the aforementioned service extension;
• Download the package of integration files;
• Unpack the archive and run the install_host.bat file;
• On the Speechpad.Ru website, go to the user's account;

Click the "Enable Trial" button.

And so every time you need to activate voice input. That, in fact, is all. Now you can open Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, other text editors and start dictation. The recognized text will appear in the window of any active application that supports input.

Important: to use the Speechpad integrated into the system, you cannot close the tab of his site in the browser window. Closing the latter deactivates voice input.

5. Free alternatives to integrating voice input into the Windows environment

What free alternatives can there be to integrating Russian-language voice input into the Windows environment?

Option number 1

Absolutely free of charge on the site Speechpad.Ru you can use the option to output recognized speech to the clipboard. We press the button "Enable recording" on the site and move to any Windows application.

Now we can speak individual phrases and paste them from the buffer with the Ctrl + V keys. As soon as we pause in speech, we will hear the Speechpad squeak, indicating that the phrase is recognized and copied to the clipboard. This way of working with voice input has its advantages: when inserting individual phrases, you can edit the text completely along the way.

Option number 2

For those working with office suite applications, Microsoft can offer its own experience in implementing voice input - the Dictate add-in, which integrates an additional menu tab with a speech recognition tool into Word, Outlook and PowerPoint. The add-on can recognize speech in 20 languages, including Russian, and allows you to translate text into 60 languages ​​along the way.

Another free way to voice text input is to record speech into an audio file with further automatic transcription (decoding into text). Far from everyone can immediately express their thoughts in a structured literary language, and even along the way, correct recognition errors, put down punctuation marks. When recording a speech on a voice recorder, you can fully concentrate on the essence of the material being presented, and in the process of transcription, direct all your attention to the eloquence and literacy of the presentation of this material. But, friends, automating the transcription of audio recordings is a topic for another, separate article.

Continued in articles:

With speech recognition in Windows, the use of a keyboard and mouse is optional. Instead, you can control your computer with your voice and dictate text.

Note: Speech recognition is only available in the following languages: English (US and UK), French, Spanish, Chinese, Mandarin (simplified and traditional Chinese), and German.

Setting up speech recognition in Windows 8.1

Before you can use speech recognition, you must complete a few steps. First you need to set up the microphone. The computer can then be trained to recognize that voice.

To set up the microphone

Before setting up speech recognition, make sure that the microphone is connected to the computer.

1. Enter text in the search box Microphone setup Microphone setup.
2. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Note A: If possible, use a headset microphone due to less chance of picking up background noise.

How to train a computer to recognize speech

The speech recognition feature uses a special profile to recognize your voice and voice commands. The more often you use speech recognition, the more detailed your voice command profile becomes, making the computer understand you better.

1. The Search panel can also be opened using the keyboard by pressing the Win + Q keys.
2. Enter text in the search box Speech recognition, and then press the key or select an item Speech recognition.
3. Click the button teach computer.
4. Follow the instructions that appear during the voice recognition learning process.

Using speech recognition

You can perform several tasks with your voice, such as filling out online forms or typing letters. When you speak into the microphone, speech recognition changes the spoken words into text displayed on the screen.

To dictate text using Windows 8.1 speech recognition

1. Swipe inward quickly from the right edge of the screen, and then tap the Search bar. (If you're using a mouse, select the top right corner of the screen, move your mouse pointer down, and then select the Search bar).
2. The Search panel can also be opened using the keyboard by pressing the Win + Q keys.
3. Enter text in the search box speech recognition, and then press the key or select an item Windows Speech Recognition.
4. Say "start listening" or press the button on the microphone to activate listening mode.
5. Open the app you want to use or highlight the text box you want to dictate text for.
6. Say the text you want to dictate.

To fix mistakes

• Errors can be corrected in three different ways.
  • To correct the last spoken phrase, say - "please correct it."
  • To improve one word, say "Fix" and then say the word to be corrected. If a word is repeated multiple times, all instances of it will be highlighted and you can select the instance you want to improve.
  • In the dialog box Alternatives Panel say the number of the corresponding element, and then say OK .

To add or change words in the Dictionary

With Windows 8.1 Speech Dictionary, you can add your own words, block the ability to dictate a certain word, improve a word in the dictionary, or delete it.

1. Swipe inward quickly from the right edge of the screen, and then tap the Search bar. (If you are using a mouse, select the upper right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then select the Search bar).
2. The Search panel can also be opened using the keyboard by pressing the Win + Q keys.
3. Enter text in the search box speech recognition, and then press the key or select an item Windows Speech Recognition.
4. Say "start listening" or press the microphone button to activate listening mode.
5. Say "Open Speech Dictionary" and do one of the following:
   • To add a word to the dictionary, say "Add new word" and then follow the on-screen instructions.
   • To prevent dictation of a particular word, say "Prevent word dictation" and then follow the on-screen instructions.

Computer control with speech recognition

Note: Each time you need to check which commands can be used, say: "What can I say?"

To...	Say it...
Open launch screen
Open panel function panel
Open Search panel
Show all apps	Applications
Get started with the app	Right click and say Windows C
Use Apps	Say what you want to do. For example, change to Celsius in the Weather app.
Select any element using its name	Say File; Start; View
Select any item or icon	Tell Cart; Say Computer; Say the file name
Double click on an element	Double click the Trash; Double click Computer; Double click the file name
Go to open application	Reference to Paint; Go to WordPad; Go to program name; Go to application
Scroll in the right direction	Scroll up; Scroll down; scroll left; scroll right
Insert a new paragraph or line in a document	New paragraph; new line
Select a word in a document	Set Expression
Highlight a word and start correcting it	Correct the expression
Highlight and delete specific words	Delete expression
Show a list of commands that can be executed	What can I say?
Update the list of available speech commands	Update speech commands
Enable listening mode	start listening
Disable listening mode	stop listening
Move microphone bar, speech recognition features	Move speech recognition
Minimize microphone bar	Collapse speech recognition
View Windows Help and Support content related to specific tasks	How to do something? Say, for example, "How do I install a printer?" Note that this command is only available if you are using English (US) speech recognition.

Since I saw my first Sci-Fi movie, I wish I had the technology they use. I still haven't seen flying ships on this scale, teleportation devices, robots that can dance, or other similar devices. However, I found a piece of this dream included in the app. Windows Vista-Windows Speech Recognition- Speech recognition.

This tool attempts to understand what you are saying and converts spoken words into machine-readable input such as keystrokes or Windows commands, thereby limiting the need to use a mouse and keyboard. In this tutorial I will show you how to set up Windows Speech Recognition -Windows Speech Recognition, and teach you how to use it and give you some information about common questions about this application. In order to use Windows Speech Recognition– Windows speech recognition you need a microphone. To learn how to set it up, read the article on how to install and set up a microphone in Vista.

How to install Windows Speech Recognition

After you have installed your microphone, you need to practice in fv with Windows Speech Recognition to understand your voice. To do this, open a window control panel – Control Panel and click on – Get access.

If you are using classic Groups management, go to Control Panel -> Ease of Access Center– Control Panel-> Center Special features. When you are at the window Hold access, click on Speech Recognition Options – Speech recognition features.

AT window Speech Recognition Options – Speech recognition features Press Start Speech Recognition– Start Speech Recognition.

The Setup Wizard will appear. To start the setup, click on buttonNext- Next.

Select the microphone devices that are currently in use and click on the Next button − Next.

If you follow these directions, they will give you the best results. In my case, since I chose a microphone with a headset, the directions were as shown below. After reading and following this consultation, click the Next button – Next.

Note: If you accidentally select the wrong device or you just want to return to the previous Settings page, click on the blue arrow Back- back in the upper left corner of the installation wizard window.

Read the text aloud and then click the Next button. Next.

This procedure can be a bit buggy, so you can repeat it several times to adjust the position of the microphone and its distance from the speakers.

Note: If you have already tried several times to make the settings and the microphone still does not work, close the wizard and check the article on how to install and configure the Microphone. When the microphone is installed correctly, repeat the procedure in this article.

If you read the text and clicked the Next button - Further, the wizard will say that the microphone has been installed. Click on the Next button - Ready.

After setting up the microphone, the wizard will try to improve the accuracy of speech recognition. The installation wizard will ask your permission to improve the application using texts from documents or mail. Once you have selected the desired option, click Next - Further.

The wizard will now give you a link to a speech map that contains a list of computer commands it will respond to. If you click on View Reference Sheet – Show link list, You can see the commands and also print them.

When finished, click the Next button - Further.

Note: link list can be read and printed at any additional time, just go to Access -> Speech Recognition Options -> Open the Speech Reference Card - Control Panel->Accessibility->Speech Recognition Options->Open Speech Link Map.

You can make an application that runs every time it starts Windows Vista, checking the option “ Run Speech Recognition at startup– Run Speech Recognition at Startup ” . If you leave it unattended, the application will need to be launched manually every time you want to use it.

Learn how to use Windows Speech Recognition

Once you're done with the setup, you'll be prompted to go through the tutorial and learn how to use it. Click on the entrance to enter Textbook.

IMPORTANT: I can't give you guidance on the content of the tutorial. I think the manual is well written and contains all the necessary information. Please take 10-15 minutes to read this. While this may seem disappointing at first glance, you will be happy with the results in the end.

If you have finished the lesson and you think What is Windows Speech Recognition does not hear voice commands well enough, you can take the same tutorial again. To do this, go to options Windows Speech Recognition – Speech recognition and press Take Speech Tutorial – Take the Tutorialspeeches.
If you have read the textbook but still feel the need to improve the methods working with Speech Recognition in Windows, you can make another tutorial based on reading texts. To open and use the text tutorial, click ‘ Train you computer to better understand you– Training your computer to better understand you” is in windowoptions Speech Recognition Options- Speech recognition.

Recommendations: Complete the lessons ‘ Train your computer to better understand you– Teaching the computer to better understand it “several times. Even if you make mistakes the first few times, in less than 3 days and a couple of hours a day, you will wonder how you could live without this app. Instead of closing the application, just click stop listening or click from the keyboard Ctrl + Windows .

Known Issues

Some applications may not work with Speech recognition in Windows. This is because applications must have support for text services. The framework was built by Microsoft to include additional text input, speech recognition, and in-app support. Thus, if the developers did not include Text Services Framework when they built their application, Speech Recognition in Windows would not work properly with their application.

Speech recognition in Windows does not work when the UAC (User Account Control) warning appears. In such cases, using the mouse or keyboard, select the UAC option you want.

Windows Vista is the first operating system from Microsoft to have speech recognition built in. Using this function, you can perform various tasks with your voice, such as launching programs, closing, saving and deleting files, dictating text to be recorded verbatim, and editing it. Deb Shinder, IT Consultant, will walk you through the details of how to use this feature.

Ever since the release of the Star Trek movie, many computer users have dreamed of throwing out keyboards, mice and controlling their computer with their voice. Programs that allowed you to speak different commands, dictate text to a computer - have been made for many years and were very useful for those who were not physically able to use other input methods. But for some reason these programs were not popular.

Windows Vista is the first operating system from Microsoft that can recognize speech. Previously, the speech recognition feature was present in Microsoft Office XP and Office 2003, and it was also possible to use programs from other developers, such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Microsoft has also added speech recognition to Windows Mobile.

You don't have to buy anything extra to start talking to your computer, Vista already has it all. By default, the function is disabled, but you can easily enable it in the Control Panel, as shown in Figure A.

You can also launch this feature from the menu by selecting All Programs | Standard | Accessibility (All Programs | Accessories | Ease Of Access), as shown in Figure B.

How it works

You can choose one of two speech recognition modes:

• To manage programs: Start and close programs, switch between them, save and delete files, and so on.
• To dictate the text, which will be recorded verbatim, as well as edit it.

Software developers can add support for this feature to their programs. Annoyingly, speech recognition currently only supports a few languages: English (US and UK), German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).

Setting up speech recognition

Before you can use speech recognition, you will have to complete the following steps:

• Turn on speech recognition.
• Set up the microphone.
• Read the manual (optional).
• Practice clearly, speak (also not necessary).

After double-clicking Speech Recognition in the Control Panel or selecting Speech Recognition from the menu, you will be presented with a setup window as shown in Figure C.

When you click on Start Speech Recognition, a voice control panel will appear at the top of your screen, as shown in Figure D.

If you already have this function configured, then the socket will be registered in autostart and will start every time Windows boots. A blue voice control icon will also appear in the tray.
You can call the context menu for settings by right-clicking on the tray icon, or on the voice control panel, as shown in Figure E.

In the menu you will see the following settings:

• Turn Speech On: The computer will listen to everything you say and will execute the commands it recognizes.
• Standby mode (Sleep): The computer will follow your speech, but will not respond to any commands until you say "Start listening".
• Off: The computer does not listen to you, no matter what you tell it.
• Open Speech Reference Card: A handy cheat sheet with basic commands and additional information.
• Start Speech Tutorial: Video tutorial where you will be told and shown everything.
• Help: Opens a help file about this function.
• Options: Here you can set up the program to load with Windows, automatic text correction, etc.
• Configuration: Here you can set up your microphone, improve speech recognition, and open the control panel.
• Open The Speech Dictionary: You can add new words (very useful for names and words that are difficult to recognize), and you can also exclude words that you never say.
• Dictation Topic: Only Narrative can be selected here.
• Visit the site (Go To The Speech Recognition Web site).
• Get Information About Speech Recognition: This is the Windows dialog box familiar to us, in which the version, license number and name of the program are written.
• Open Speech Recognition.
• Exit: Completely closes the program.

Touch screen control is already standard. The latest systems such as Windows 8 “understand” voice commands. Speech recognition should make our communication with the computer even easier, more intuitive and… more natural. I'll tell you what it looks like today.

A LITTLE HISTORY - HOW DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION WITH THE MACHINE

Ways to communicate with a computer have evolved over the years. The first interface through which a person could issue commands was punched cards, which date back to 1832. They were used in machines for the production of cloth. The keyboard began to be used in 1960. Two decades later, the standard mouse joined in and is still in use today. Although the mouse has shared power with the trackpad, it is still the most popular form of control. Thanks to smartphones and tablets, the touch interface and gestures have become very popular, which are used, in particular, to control the Xbox 360 Kinect. After touch screens and gestures, comes voice control, but this solution has so far been so underdeveloped that sometimes you don’t hear about it.

SETTING UP SPEECH RECOGNITION IN WINDOWS 8

Unfortunately, voice control is not yet available in Russian. Currently supported are English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Spanish. Microsoft decided to focus on the largest and most developed countries, but it is possible that for some time it will add this feature for our country as well. If you try to run it, it swears like this

If you still want to test this solution, you need to set up the system (change the language) and learn a couple of words in English. To do this, you need to go to the control panel, and select the Language item. If you do not have any other language than Russian, you must click the "Add language" button, and then select one of the supported languages. In our case, it is "English (United States)". We see that only the layout in this language is available, double-click, the language availability for the interface will be checked, after checking, click “Download and install the language pack”, and the process will start, patiently wait for it to load. Once this process is complete, set the default language to English

Now you need to go to the Windows 8 start screen (tiled), type “Windows Speech Recognition” in the search box and press Enter.

Thus, you can launch the voice recognition tool. When you first start it will prompt you to configure the microphone, after choosing, say something to check.

Then offer to take training lessons. They last up to 15-20 minutes, but are very useful and provide basic information about how to use the features. But if you are not strong in English, I think you should not waste time, it will be difficult to make out anything, go straight to battle

HOW TO WORK

In order for the computer to start recognizing your speech, you must say “start listening” (which means start listening), or press the microphone button to start listening mode. Now you can open the application or simply dictate words into a text editor, browser or search bar

WHAT WE CAN DO

In principle, the possibilities are huge, in addition to standard words, you can create your own teams. The main features are shown in the table

Action	What to say
Select any element by its name	Click File,Start,View
Select any element or icon	Click Recycle Bin,Click Computer,Click(filename)
Double click or double click any item	Double-clickRecycle Bin,Double-click Computer
Switch between open applications	Switch to Paint,Switch to WordPad
scrolling	scroll up; scroll down; scroll left; Scroll right
Include new paragraph or new line in document	new paragraph; new line
Select a word in a document
Word correction	correct word
Select and delete certain words
Show a list of applicable commands
	Refresh speech commands
Turn on listening mode
Disable listening mode
Collapse microphone	Minimize speech recognition
View Windows Help and Support	How do I do something? For example: How do I install a printer?

If you do not know how to pronounce a phrase, I suggest you use Google Translate or http://tutor.ru (he understood this site better)

I had a desire to write down my teams consisting of simple bourgeois words. Which I can pronounce. So he did not let me do this, he could not start the command editor. As a result, he perfectly understood my pronunciation of the words One, Two and Open. With this set, you can launch the application by number in the home screen. First say the number, then say OPEN. Not a lot, of course, but I consider the experiment a success. It would not be bad if Microsoft introduced the Russian language, a good replacement for the remote control.