Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

ergoemacs.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 137 posts

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#51

Post by asgard1024 »

sspiff wrote: post #48

Whenever I see posts about voice controlling your computer, I spontaneously think "thank the heavens I don't have to share an office with you." I realize some people work alone, at home or in a sound proof office, but every work environment I've worked in has had a shared acoustic space. These voice control schemes almost always end up as a cool gimmick, and rarely as a productivity boosting solution.

Because you're thinking about it wrong. Together with HUD, it will be a godsend for anybody who needs to have hands free and yet work with a computer. And if the microphone is close enough your mouth, you won't have to talk loudly to it.

For example, I could go to tend garden and yet think about some problem, take notes, even code. Or check email, browse internet. I can work on hardware thing and have schematics or specifications appear in front of my eyes. I can have a walk and take notes. I can eat while working.

Eventually, no office will be required. You can just stroll in the park and get the work done.

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#53

Post by WalterSear »

mhd wrote: post #36
applecore wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you must work from home with that kind of setup. Or, you have a private office with a door that closes.

A high-quality headset, maybe even with some noise-canceling features should work okay, too. It wouldn't be that much different from a call center, and those don't usually get their own offices, either. Sure, not the ideal, distraction-free environment, but neither is a cubicle farm.

Voice recognition isn't good enough for that yet: hyper-cardioid mics can only do so much.

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#54

Post by unono »

There's a lot of potential for multimodal gamified programming using tablets. A combination of gesturing, shaking the tablet, face expression, hand drawing, myo sensing, as well speech, in addition to machine learning in the compiler and for regular expression building. Within the next year a whole raft of apps along these lines will be coming online in the app stores. Big opportunity for Indie developers on the app store, you can easily charge $20+ if they're good and disrupt the emacs/vi/eclipse monopoly/monotony.

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#55

Post by muxxa »

henrik_w wrote: post #40

Tangentially related, but I'll throw it in here, since so many developers aren't taking ergonomics seriously. RSI can happen to you if you are not careful, and it can wreck your career (almost happened to me). Several years ago, I started having aches in my arms. Over half a year it got gradually worse, until it was so bad, I thought I had to give up coding altogether. Fortunately, I managed to get it under control,…

Personal anecdote: I correlated my RSI directly to drinking coffee (tea is okay). I notice when I'm caffeinated that my posture is very different and I hold postures (e.g. holding down the shift key) for much longer. If RSI starts to blight you, try substituting your morning coffee for tea or water. For me, a break program just increased the stress levels of 'wanting to get something done', which I think is the root cause of RSI (stress).

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#56

Post by dctoedt »

muxxa wrote: post #55
henrik_w wrote: post #40

Tangentially related, but I'll throw it in here, since so many developers aren't taking ergonomics seriously. RSI can happen to you if you are not careful, and it can wreck your career (almost happened to me). Several years ago, I started having aches in my arms. Over half a year it got gradually worse, until it was so bad, I thought I had to give up coding altogether. Fortunately, I managed to get it under control,…

Personal anecdote: I correlated my RSI directly to drinking coffee (tea is okay). I notice when I'm caffeinated that my posture is very different and I hold postures (e.g. holding down the shift key) for much longer. If RSI starts to blight you, try substituting your morning coffee for tea or water. For me, a break program just increased the stress levels of 'wanting to get something done', which I think is the root…

> try substituting your morning coffee for tea or water.

Syntax [edit:] tip:

"try substituting tea or water for your morning coffee"

or

"try replacing your morning coffee with tea or water"

EDIT: For the downvoters: Fairly or unfairly, in the non-tech world people judge you by your choice and arrangement of words. (Compilers do much the same thing, of course.)

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#57

Post by mechanical_fish »

A few months ago I had an RSI problem so bad - able to type only a minute at a time, even sitting with hands on keyboard hurt - that I started down this route. This video was, literally, a life-altering motivator for me, and I was quite obsessed with it.

Ironically, after seeing a physical therapist - which, let me tell you, you should do at the first sign of pain, because while they can't help some people I personally am batting 1.000 with PTs for RSI over my many-year career - my recovery is now so complete that I've totally fallen off the voice-computing path... for now. But I intend to keep going, not just because it is hilarious but because, well, RSI happens and it really pays to vary the routine sooner rather than later. There is nothing like trying to do a ton of emergency scripting on Python and emacs at the lowest possible point of your productivity.

The most important hint I have so far is: do not waste time with Mac OS. You need a PC running the Windows version of Dragon. The Mac version is pretty good for occasional email but lousy for emacs because it doesn't have the Python hook into the event loop that a saint hacked into the PC version years ago before leaving Dragon.

The speechcomputing.com forums are your friend.

Yeah, they say there is an open-source recognition engine that works okay, and time spent improving free recognition engines is time that really improves the world for all kinds of injured people, but here's the problem: when you need a speech system you really need it, and there are a lot of moving parts. Dragon, and Windows, and a super PC to run it on are super cheap compared to your time, especially when your time is in six-minute increments punctuated by pain.

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#58

Post by mechanical_fish »

mdaniel wrote: post #2

My counter-argument to voice-driven coding has been primarily around the input bandwidth and the fact that you must work from home with that kind of setup. I guess the presenter conducted the "faster than the keyboard" test under very controlled circumstances (e.g. only working on his own code, so one doesn't have to deal with non-english-word variables/functions). I don't mean to be a hater, because that was an _ama…

It is a limitation, but when your other choice is "not working at all, pain, depression, despair" having to work at home is the least of your problems.

I have a grimmer point to make: Working out of crappy half-assed "startup incubators" with lousy desks, lousy seating, and an atmosphere flavored with stress was a direct contributor to my own RSI problems. You might not want to wait until you have symptoms to conclude that having an actual desk and some quiet is a good idea.

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#59

Post by mechanical_fish »

dctoedt wrote: post #56
muxxa wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal anecdote: I correlated my RSI directly to drinking coffee (tea is okay). I notice when I'm caffeinated that my posture is very different and I hold postures (e.g. holding down the shift key) for much longer. If RSI starts to blight you, try substituting your morning coffee for tea or water. For me, a break program just increased the stress levels of 'wanting to get something done', which I think is the root…

> try substituting your morning coffee for tea or water. Syntax [edit:] tip: "try substituting tea or water for your morning coffee" or "try replacing your morning coffee with tea or water" EDIT: For the downvoters: Fairly or unfairly, in the non-tech world people judge you by your choice and arrangement of words. (Compilers do much the same thing, of course.)

Nice people also judge those who try to shame people (not all of whom are native speakers of English) into silence on health-related forum threads by picking on irrelevancies.

Re: Using Voice to Code Faster than Keyboard

#60

Post by mhd »

WalterSear wrote: post #53
mhd wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A high-quality headset, maybe even with some noise-canceling features should work okay, too. It wouldn't be that much different from a call center, and those don't usually get their own offices, either. Sure, not the ideal, distraction-free environment, but neither is a cubicle farm.

Voice recognition isn't good enough for that yet: hyper-cardioid mics can only do so much.

Really, Dragon can't cope with someone sitting ten feet away and speaking at the same time? So I guess no listening to radio, either. Is it just the specifics of speech or is it that noise sensitive.

Maybe someone should do some kind of voice rec "groupware" then, where the relatively louder results of the other person are used to filter out false positives on my end...

Post reply on HN