Thursday, September 08, 2005

Articles and search results transmitted via speech technology...

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that any netizen can edit, is now including spoken articles. The articles are coded in the .ogg audio format and can be played in a variety of media players. There are several articles, ranging from the Dilbert Principle to DNA Repair, available for anyone to hear at Wikipedia's Spoken Articles web page.

Speegle will conduct a web search that is similar to Google’s search interface, but Speegle will read the URL, title, and/or description to you in a computer-generated voice. Give it a try at: http://www.speegle.co.uk/!

For many years, futurists have said that humans will speak to machines and that they will understand us. Although voice recognition software and artificially intelligent “avatars” are improving communication between humans and machines, it appears that machines are “more comfortable” talking to us. Regardless, improved speech technologies are a step in the right direction, especially when these tools can aid people with certain disabilities.

--- Chad Mairn, Librarian, Clearwater campus.

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