Voice Recognition and Programming? 25
"It's all in the grammar."
Voice recognition still has a ways to mature before it is robust enough for coding since a lot of programming involves the use of symbols, not words. Sure, you can assign "names" to these symbols and start speaking away, but it would be cleaner if voice recognition engines are made aware of the syntax of specific languages and would do this for you (many modern editors have this feature). Is voice recognition moving in this direction, or do coders have a while to wait before they can start using their keyboards as paperweights?
IBM Viavoice for Linux (Score:1)
Re:Function names? (Score:1)
On another note, isn't times quicker than multiplied-by?
Voice strain (Score:1)
So speech recognition may not be the ideal answer you are looking for.
Nuance as an ASR for voice programming (Score:1)
Re:how about handwriting? (Score:1)
Re:Function names? (Score:1)
I remember seeing on television a year ago a input device that fits right into your hand, has 5 buttons and using combonations you can make the chars you want. Don't know if this did brackets, semicolons or braces though.
Re:Function names? (Score:1)
It'll probably be awhile before something as abstract as coding can be easily done with voice recognition software. Until then, just invest in those wrist pads and a trackball... works for me...
Re:Been there, done that, gave up (Score:1)
So even though You might find a piece of Voice software that was made for C/Pascal/SQL/whatever You would still have to do a heck of a lot of typing. So don't count of being able to "ease" Your way around this problem. My solution was simple. I just stopped resting my arms/wrists on the desk. It takes a bit more effort, and a new mouse. But I no longer have problems with hurting/numb hands or arms at work (at home is another matter entirely).
Step away from the computer... (Score:1)
When your hands and wrists start telling you that they don't like coding non-stop everyday, it's time to stop coding non-stop everyday. It's hard to believe, but life exists away from computers.
The poster above made an excellent point about compulsiveness. There are students at my school who, after their 4 years of undergrad, are so crippled by RSI and carpal tunnel that they can't work in the field they studied. The first day of the first year programming class is now a lecture on RSI and how to avoid it.
A friend, who doubted the existance of RSI, once asked me how it is that RSI exists now, but didn't exists years ago, because otherwise secretaries would have suffered from it as far back as the 40's and 50's. I pointed out that secretaries in the 40's and 50's worked 8 hours a day, and didn't type when they got home.
In addition to recognition software and therapy, you've got to learn to chill....
I'd love to, (Score:1)
Very hard to do (Score:1)
he he! (Score:1)
Re:Function names? (Score:1)
Re:Function names? (Score:1)
C provides shorthand for common operations such as incrementing a variable by one, why can't speech to code engines do the same? A bit of syntactical sugar would sweeten everything up.
Re:Sore throats, and how do you pronounce '}' (Score:1)
Re:Function names? (Score:1)
works for me (Score:1)
I'm not sure whether I'm less productive; I used to just puke code out in great volume, but now I'm slower and, I think, more deliberate. one absolute requirement, though, is PRIVACY; I used to have a cubicle, but my neighbors and I drove each other crazy once I started talking to my computer. Fortunately my manager was able to find me an office.
There's some good information on the Web for people like us. You can try http://www.codevox.com [codevox.com] or http://www.voicedeveloper.com [voicedeveloper.com] to start with.
Not appropriate for vocal input (Score:2)
how about handwriting? (Score:2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't want a lot, I just want it all
Flame away, I have a hose!
Function names? (Score:2)
Also, I feel that programming languages were really meant to be written by keyboard. Saying int i equals sizeof open bracket int close bracket times four semicolon just seems like too much work compared to entering it on a keyboard. Even then i will most likely be misinterpreted as eye.
I think its possible to write code in such a way, but perhaps too impractical. It would either involve creating a whole new, large dictonary for your programming needs or maybe your very own #include file to convert things like equals to =.
Sore throats, and how do you pronounce '}' (Score:2)
This could be worse than those annoying jackals from the marketing department, who when cubed near us insist on monitoring their voicemail by speakerphone, and always at top volume. Grrhh! Or the admin from hell who insists that everyone benefits from decibelic exposure to retro radio. "All disco, all the time..." Smash! Whump! Mrphf! (sound of small boom-box radio receiver being forced up human orifice)
Maybe you could get a better keyboard, and some macros for it?
Hybrid speech/stylus interfaces (Score:3)
What I'm surprised by is how little imagination the handwriting recognition and speech-recognition developers have. Dictation software is usually used by people who *do* have the use of at least one hand. So why not have hybrid interfaces?
The tedious process of editing material in a dictation environment could be simplified and sped up greatly if you could simultaneously use a stylus to jump the cursor around and scriblle out or mark errors--or make corrections. You could also be presented with floating popups showing choices for ambiguous words and phrases the dictation engine is having trouble with even as you continue to dictate.
I think a hybrid interface like this--using handwriting, gestures and speech together would allow for quicker and more precise and efficient dictation, and would make dictating things like source code or scientific data and equations at least as quick and fluid as keyboarding.
It really is about time the keyboard and that other vile RSI torture device, the mouse, started to go away for most applications. Shaking developers out of the misguided focus on 100% hands-free dictation and all-or-nothing handwriting recognition would help immensely.
Just one question (Score:3)
are you getting this (early ct syndrome) professionally treated? In the words of jwz:
"Do not fuck around. If you are experiencing any kind of pain, get to a doctor and get it diagnosed [jwz.org]."
Looking for alternative solutions is great, but don't do it to the exclusion of professional help.
Best of luck.
alternative Keyboard layouts (Score:3)
I had a mild bout with the same thing not too long ago. I went through some Psyiotherapy and stuff to deflame (is that a word??) the nerves in my elbows that were causing my hands to go numb.
Now I'm just more careful about how I rest my elbows on my desk, and I'm doing much better.
Been there, done that, gave up (Score:4)
Did it work? Yeah, sort of. For entering normal text, dictation software has gotten to the point that it is definitely usable -- by someone who absolutely can't get by without it (95% accuracy seems really good until you realize it's getting one in 20 words wrong. and your spellchecker won't be any help). But editing programs is harder -- you spend a lot of time making changes to existing text, which is hard to do by voice. After leaving grad school, I gave NaturallySpeaking(TM) a try. I found it better in some ways, worse in others. I think it is far worse for programming than dragon dictate. at least the version i used was (maybe it's been improved), because you could only dictate into a dedicated window, and there was no support for voice macros (IIRC).
So where am I now? Pain-free most of the time. I have flare-ups from time to time and fully accept that this is a lifetime condition. I still use dvorak; it *feels* better, but that's about all I can say. Since leaving grad school, I spend less time in front of a keyboard, by virtue of spending more time in meetings. :-( That, plus (somewhat) better habits has made a world of difference. I think of RSI as a physical symptom of a psychological condition: compulsiveness. A normal, healthy person does not keep doing something that causes pain. I think the key to dealing with RSI (note: not recovering from -- it's too late for that) is to listen to your body and stop doing things that cause pain. Dictation software might work as a stopgap, but if you don't make a fundamental change in your habits, you'll just end up with a strained voice in addition to your strained wrists.
good luck!