Comments on: Speech Recognition Is Only Part of the Future

By: Chris Emery

Chris Emery — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:51:44 +0000

I believe that all these methods suffer from tunnel vision. They all involve the machine as something separate and non-evolving. I believe that we will create a network of machines that are in constant communication with all our forms of expression and which will always be aware of what we are aware of and alter their operations based upon all our past history.

By: Mike Greczyn

Mike Greczyn — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:04:15 +0000

Imagine an early 80s vintage computer whose main job is to process a bazillion radar returns every 10 seconds while also dealing with 20 crew members frantically pounding in keyboard commands (you can't accurately describe the way a person uses a keyboard in a high-stress environment as "typing"), and the story is plausible.

By: bfeld

bfeld — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:28:07 +0000

I agree that the applications will drive mainstream usage. To date Oblong has been focused on specialized heavy data apps, but there are some very interesting broader apps coming from them (look for a few announcements soon). In addition, as they move from a “glove” world to a “gloveless” world (all software on their end) really interesting things start to appear. For example, imagine what you could do in your car if you could use your hands to interact with the computer that now resides (stupidly) in the very middle of your console.

By: KevinVogelsang

KevinVogelsang — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:46:15 +0000

I agree. These are just interim. Computer-Brain interfaces will be the true paradigm. This will change everything: the human condition won't be the same.

Once I have a little cash and credibility under my belt, I'll spend all my days working on this. Something will surely have gone awry if we can't achieve this in the next 60 years.

By: KevinVogelsang

KevinVogelsang — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:42:24 +0000

The problem with any sort of gestural interface for the mainstream consumer: people are lazy. While the keyboard and mouse are outdated, but you can do a heck of a lot with them, with very little energy or movement. (By gestural, I'm excluding touch-based interfaces.)

As cool as gestural interfaces are, I have yet to see a good application concept for everyday use of gestural interfaces (if you count the Wii, the Wii doesn't improve human-computer interaction, it provides a new gaming experience.) I would love to see them if they exist or have been talked about.

There are many situations where they certainly would be valuable: any time you need to pan through a 3d space or play with a 3d object. But why would the general consumer need to other than exploring google earth? If you deal with large data, or are an artist, there certainly are applications.

Perhaps that will be the mainstream use, playing with the data sets that now surround us? At least once we "grow into" the interface.

I do think Oblong's stuff is awesome, as I'm technically working on something that could greatly benefit from having a gestural interface. However, I haven't gotten a good answer to the question:"What will I use it for?"

It's hard to predict where the applications will go. But that's what will ultimately drive the adoption. And I haven't heard enough talk about what we truly and deeply need them for.

By: KevinVogelsang

KevinVogelsang — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:40:30 +0000

By: bfeld

bfeld — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:55:04 +0000

Dictation as a metaphor is a good one. I never think of it because I grew up after dictation. But I fondly remember my father sitting at home at night at his desk with a stack of medical charts in front of him dictating his notes on each one. Someone in his office then transcribed all the dictation the next day.

By: bfeld

bfeld — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:53:04 +0000

Awesome – yet another great anecdote about slowing down humans to make it easier for the computers.

By: @ianleader

@ianleader — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:08:20 +0000

Good point about the difference between what content you say and what you type. I've had this experience when reviewing transcripts of con-calls I've been on, and even when I'm trying to be concise and summarising (rather than creative / discursive) it's not like anything I'd type.

Watching 'Mad Men' recently reminded me that dictation isn't new – it just used to be processed by a human before it was committed to 'paper'. Perhaps the dictation s/w of the future will be able to learn from how I correct what I dictate using the (virtual) keyboard.

By: Mike Greczyn

Mike Greczyn — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:02:15 +0000

I used to crew AWACS planes for USAF (as an aside, if you want to see a crappy UI, go fool with pretty much anything operated by DOD). There was an old story floating around that the first AWACS crew stations had keyboards with the keys arranged in alphabetical order so that folks who were whizzes on QWERTY boards wouldn't jam up the computer memory. I always thought that sounded oddly familiar, and then someone reminded me of the origin of the QWERTY arrangement.