| Product Name |
DragonDictate for Windows
Version 3.0 |
IBM VoiceType
Simply Speaking Gold
Version 3.5 |
Kurzweil VoicePlus and Kurzweil
VoicePro
Release 2.5 |
| Vendor |
Dragon Systems |
IBM |
Kurzweil Applied Intelligence |
| SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: |
|
|
|
| Operating systems supported |
Windows 3.1x, Windows 95 and Windows NT (Windows NT
support is limited; contact Dragon Systems for details) |
Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 |
Windows 95 and Windows 3.1x |
| Minimum hardware required |
486DX2 66MHz (Pentium recommended)
Classic: 3.1x: 12MB total RAM
95/NT: 16MB
Power: 3.1x: 16MB
95: 20MB
NT: 24MB |
100MHz Pentium or equivalent 16MB total RAM (Windows 95)
or 32MB (Windows NT) |
486DX4 75MHz 8MB
dedicated RAM (VoicePlus) or 16MB (VoicePro) |
| APPLICATION SUPPORT: |
|
|
|
| Direct in-place dictation within supported applications |
Dictation into virtually all Windows applications,
including MS Office 97, Corel WordPerfect 8, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, and
custom applications. |
Only Microsoft Word (6.0c, 7.0, 97) and IBM VoicePad are
"speech-enabled" for in-place dictation. |
Supports all major suites and many other Windows
applications. 25 applications are listed as "speech-enabled." |
| Direct in-place dictation into other applications |
Virtually all applications are supported. |
Yes, by VoiceType Direct. |
Yes, but level of support may vary. |
| Correction, editing, moving and formatting while dictating
within the application |
Yes. |
No. Dictation must be stopped for correction. VoiceCenter
required for menu access and limited formatting. |
Yes, for "speech-enabled" functions or those
trained by the user in "speech-enabled" applications. |
| Consistent user interface across different applications |
Yes (the Voicebar™ user interface). |
No. VoiceType has three mini-applications for dictation.
Each has a different interface and capabilities:
Microsoft Word dictation template
VoicePad, a proprietary notepad
VoiceType Direct, phrase-by-phrase keystroke transfer into most applications |
Yes. |
| Dictation integrated with command and control |
Yes (command mode used for menu tracking and continuous
commands). |
No, a fourth mini-app, VoiceCenter, is used for
all commands and menus. |
Yes (modeless operation for selected applications). |
| Instant support for menus, buttons, dialog boxes and menus
in new applications |
Yes. Menus, buttons and dialog boxes are instantly and
automatically supported in virtually all Windows applications. |
Yes. VoiceCenter is required to access menus and buttons,
even if dictation is running. |
No. A complex 5 step process must be followed to add an
application, including a step for the user to open every menu, button and dialog box
during "Command Learning" mode. |
| DICTATION CAPABILITIES: |
|
|
|
| Discrete dictation |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Works together with a continuous speech dictation system
for
natural speech control and dictation |
Yes (Dragon NaturallySpeaking). |
No. |
No. |
| Continuous digits |
Yes. |
Yes, in selected applications such as calculator (but not
while dictating). |
Yes. |
| Automatic formatting of telephone numbers and zip codes |
Yes. |
No. |
No. |
| Continuous navigation in document |
Yes. |
Yes, if VoiceCenter is running. |
No. |
| Voice control of mouse pointer |
Yes (see hands-free section). |
No. |
Yes (see hands-free section). |
| Correction of errors when they occur |
Yes (can also correct errors later). |
No. |
Yes. |
| Delayed error correction |
Yes (without adaptation). |
Yes. |
No. |
| Delegated error correction |
No. |
Yes (requires approximately 2MB disk storage for each
minute of dictation). |
No. |
| Integrated text-to-speech capability |
Yes. |
Yes. |
No (not available as an option). |
| VOCABULARY: |
|
|
|
| Advertised total active vocabulary |
60,000 words in Power Edition
30,000 words in Classic Edition |
Up to 64,000 words |
30,000 words in VoicePlus 60,000 words in VoicePro |
| Number of words provided in the "built-in"
active vocabulary |
60,000 words in Power Edition
30,000 words in Classic Edition |
22,000 words |
20,000 words in 30,000 word configuration 40,000 words in 60,000 word configuration. |
| Number of words that can be customized (by adding or
replacing words) |
The entire active vocabulary including all commands,
macros, etc.
63,000 words in Power Edition
36,000 words in Classic Edition |
42,000 words |
10,000 words in 30,000 word configuration 20,000 words in 60,000 word configuration |
| Number of words in the backup dictionary (stored on hard
disk) |
120,000 words with spelling, acoustic, phonetic and
language model information for highest accuracy. |
100,000 words (spelling list only) |
200,000 words (with pronunciations and spellings) |
| Number of words in the entire system with spelling,
acoustic, phonetic and language information |
120,000 words. |
22,000 words. |
Unknown. |
| Optional specialty vocabularies and number of additional
words they add to the standard vocabulary |
DragonMed – 60,000
DragonLaw – 60,000
DragonEXTRA!– 60,000
(journalism/contemporary)
DragonTech – 60,000 DragonBusiness – 60,000 |
Emergency Medicine – 16,000
Radiology – 19,000
Law – 25,000
Journalism – 30,000 |
None available. |
| Ability to add words to the active vocabulary |
Yes. Words from the back-up dictionary may be added, often
by typing just one or two letters. New words are just spelled and spoken once, and
automatically generate phonetic pronunciations for best accuracy. |
Yes. The entire word must be spelled and, if the word is
not known, a sound-alike spelling may need to be entered. |
Yes. Words from the back-up dictionary may be added often
by typing just one or two letters. New words are just spelled and spoken once. |
| SPEAKER ADAPTATION: |
|
|
|
| Speaker-independent phonetic models |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes. |
| Immediately adapts to the speaker's voice to improve
accuracy while dictating and correcting misrecognitions |
Yes (adapts on correction only by default). |
No. Speech information is updated only after dictation and
corrections are completed and the speech files are closed. |
Yes (adapts on correction only). |
| Training or enrollment |
Yes. The mandatory Quick Enrollment requires the user to
say up to 16 words (2 minutes). Optional Quick Training involves saying up to 770 words
(25 minutes). |
Yes. Optional short enrollment requires the user to say 50
sentences or phrases (15 minutes). Optional regular enrollment may be 233 sentences or
phrases (1 hour and 15 minutes). The system then "calculates" the data for up to
a few hours, during which the system may not be used for anything else. |
Yes, after dictating about 800 words, the user is asked to
record 480 words (20 minutes). The system then "cal-culates" the data for
several hours, during which the system may not be used for anything else. |
| CUSTOMIZATION: |
|
|
|
| Ability to create macros |
Yes. |
Yes. |
Yes (called adding Commands). |
| Ability to send keystrokes in a macro |
Yes. |
Yes, but only printable keys. ALT, CTRL and other system
keys cannot be placed in a dictation macro. |
Yes. |
| Ability to embed commands (such as access to menus) in a
macro |
Yes. |
No. A separate command macro may be created, but cannot be
used while dictating. |
Yes. |
| Ability to launch applications by voice |
Yes. |
Only selected programs. |
Yes. |
| Full-featured macro language |
Yes, a superset of BASIC (50 additional DragonDictate
commands), with fully indexed online help. |
No. |
No. |
| Macro recorder |
No (keystrokes may be recorded in the macro editor). |
Yes (command macros only). No macro recorder for
dictation. |
No (keystrokes may be recorded in the macro editor). |
| Macro editor |
Yes. |
Yes, for dictation macros only. |
Yes. |
| Create macros with data entry fields |
No. |
Yes, called "templates", available for dictation
macros only. |
No. |
| Ability to create continuous speech macros with variable
words (e.g., "Go to page <Number>") |
Yes. Groups of up to 100 words can be used to replace each
variable. Also provides support for recursive macros. |
Only for command macros. |
No. |
| Extensible through DLL calls |
Yes. |
Yes, for dictation macros only. |
No. |
| Number of macros included with system |
About 4500, including continuous Sentence Commands with
variables ("Move <Direction> <Number>") |
About 30 dictation macros, such as
"NEW-PARAGRAPH." Unknown number of command macros. |
Command lists for 28 applications. |
| Easy-to-use toolkit for Visual Basic and Visual C++
developers with 16 and 32 bit custom controls |
Yes (DragonXTools™ 2.0). |
No (third-party custom controls may be available). |
No. |
| HANDS-FREE SUPPORT: |
|
|
|
| Ability to use totally hands-free |
Yes. |
No. |
Limited. |
| Voice control of mouse |
Yes, using easy commands like "Mouse Up" and
"Double Click", or Dragon’s proprietary MouseGrid™ controller for
pinpoint accuracy. |
No. |
Yes. User opens the mouse window and specifies the number
of pixels and direction (up, down, left or right) to move the pointer. |
| Voice control of the system |
Yes, access to all system menus, dialogs, property sheets
and Start Menu. |
VoiceCenter provides access to menus and buttons, even if
dictation is running. |
Limited to speech-enabled menus and functions. |
| MICROPHONE: |
|
|
|
| Included in product |
High-performance headset (premium headset with Power
Edition). |
Noise canceling headset. |
Noise canceling headset. |
| PRICE AND AVAILABILITY: |
|
|
|
| Languages supported |
6 |
7 |
1 |
| U.S. list price |
$149 (Classic), $695 (Power) |
$99 |
$295 (VoicePlus), $ 595 (VoicePro) |
