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Speech technology is fast becoming
one of the best tools for aiding chil-dren
and adults with learning disabili-ties.
The new L&H Kurzweil 3000
version 3.0 is a PC-based reading sys-tem
that scans, recognizes and displays
different types of documents, then
reads them aloud while highlighting
the text to aid comprehension.
The L&H Kurzweil 3000 3.0 adds a
number of features to the previous ver-sion
including voice annotation, word-prediction,
and spell checking, making
it a more complete reading and learn-ing
tool. The program recognizes text-books,
magazines, letters and other
printed material, as well as information
accessed through the computer such as
Web pages and text input by users. It
helps users improve reading skills and
comprehension by displaying the docu-ment
on the user's monitor, highlight-
ing words and phrases, while simulta-neously
reading it aloud using text-to-speech
technology.
The product makes studying easier
by letting users add their own notes to
text as they read it by simply dictating
their thoughts to the system. In previ-ous
versions, users could add notes
using the keyboard only.
“This is an excellent example of
how the power of speech technology
can help people improve a critically
important and enjoyable skill — read-ing,”
said Ray Kurzweil, L&H technol-ogy
advisor. “People with dyslexia or
other learning disabilities, as well as
those who simply want to improve
their reading skills, can receive verbal
feedback and guidance from this sys-tem
and markedly increase their read-ing
and studying ability.”
New Kurzweil 3000 reading system helps
the disabled to reading and studying ability.
L&H begins development of Greek, Russian,
Farsi, and other MidEastern and Eastern
European languages
L&H has established new strategic relationships for developing speech recogni-tion
capabilities for several new languages. The languages include Russian,
Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Greek, Farsi and Bahassa. The company is also
in the process of developing new programs for other languages such as Turkish,
Hindu and Tamil.
L&H currently markets, or has under development, text to speech (TTS),
small and large vocabulary automatic speech recognition (ASR), machine trans-lation
and other speech and language components in 12 languages — US and
UK English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese,
Chinese, Korean, Arabic — and is developing the Scandinavian languages.
When development of these new languages is completed next year, L&H will
have access to 36 languages for use in a wide variety of applications such as tele-phony,
dictation, translation, Internet, and education.
“We at Microsoft applaud Lernout & Hauspie's initiatives in language devel-opment
for speech and language applications,” said John Duncan, product man-ager
for Microsoft Office. “Clearly the market need exists for multilingual offer-ings.
In fact, at Microsoft we are introducing Microsoft Office products in more
than 30 languages.”
L&H gets large-vocabulary
speech engine from BBN
BBN is one of the true internet pio-neers.
The Cambridge, Mass. compa-ny
was one of the original team of
developers for Arpanet, the early
Defense Department research net-work
that eventually led to the inter-net
we know so well today.
Now part of GTE Internetworking,
BBN Technologies has formed an
alliance with L&H to license and fur-ther
develop the BBN HARK
Recognizer large-vocabulary speech
recognition engine and toolkit. In
exchange, BBN Technologies will
license a range of speech technolo-gies
from L&H, including L&H
RealSpeak text-to-speech technology
that produces high quality, human-sounding
synthesized speech.
The BBN HARK Recognizer is a
very accurate, large-vocabulary engine
that will give L&H and its customers
the capability to design high-end tele-phony
applications including call cen-ters,
operator services, automated
attendants, and interactive voice sys-tems.
The agreement also calls for
L&H and BBN Technologies to begin
a multi-year research and develop-ment
initiative. |
