Speech recognition software are generally not very accurate and most can’t be used with exactitude to pen down a long piece of text. However, a coder recently made use of a speech recognition software in successfully penning down code.
Tavis Rudd has been an avid coder for a long while. However, two years ago, he started suffering from RSI due to his intensive coding. He could no longer type in the sense that penning down extensive codes became impossible for him.
Initially, Rudd tried to explore different alternatives which may help him but nearly all proved futile. Finally, he decided to make use of speech recognition software to aid him. It seemed fairly impossible at the start, but there was an intelligent system that could help.
The speech recognition software Rudd is using, named Dragon Naturally Speaking System, supports standard language which means that it can neatly understand what you are saying. The problem, however, was that it couldn’t discern programming commands. To help with that, a Python speech extension was used to enable the creation of custom commands.
Very interestingly, rather than choosing different words for commands, Rudd decided to go with short vocalizations which would serve as the cue for different commands. With these simple tweaks, Rudd was not only able to program and code using his voice, he was able to do so with a greater speed compared to when coding on a keyboard.
Now such a solution may not be very feasible for many programmers but it does hint that the niche of voice-based coding can prove really useful when coders have to work on extensive projects.
Courtesy: iProgrammer
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