Most operating systems claim to software that is inbuilt into their systems but in practice, very few of these work as they should. On the other extreme, software that has guaranteed quality often comes at a very high cost.
However, a large number of voice recognition freeware is currently available and can be the bridge between these two extremes. Below we list seven of the best free speech and software systems that utilize the recognizing of your voice that actually works in the prescribed manner. For those of you, who have worked with these, drop us a note and we will improve the ratings in future and ensure that our list stays up to date.
Table of Contents
CMU Sphinx
This software package is widely recognized as a top speech recognition suite with a wide variety of resources in its quest to develop application for speech. This toolkit offers a wide variety of options that can be used for numerous applications and jobs.
Emacspeak
This platform utilizes speech and has the capability to allow users who are visually impaired to have dynamic interactions with their computers. It utilizes a technique first developed and used by Aster known as audio formatting. Additionally, it boasts of full backing if you are usingW3C’s AuralCSS. This allows for the delivery of full bodied audio and electronic presentation of content.
Festival SpeechSynthesis
This software provides an overall structured approach to generate a system that can synthesize speech. It also outlines how some of its various modules work. Overall, this toolkit provides a complete conversion of text to voice translation capability through various APIs. By utilizing an interpreter, it builds from basic level the C++ library obtained from Java. It also makes use of Emacs as its interface. Festival makes use of various languages. Currently, the languages on offer are English (both American and British versions) and Spanish. The English language feature is however more developed.
MARF
MARF is a research hub open-source platform. It provides a wide array of text, speech, voice, natural language, sound and voice processing algorithms developed on the Java platform. These algorithms are structured in a modular way and have an extensive framework which allows for new algorithms to be added. MARF has proven useful as a source for extension and learning as it can work across the network. MARF can also be utilized as a storage area.
NVDA
This is a screen reader developed for the Windows OS from Microsoft. It is open source and freely available. NonVisualDesktopAccess allows visually impaired or blind people to have access to machines that use the Windows OS through feedback provided through Braille and synthetic speech. This is done at the same cost that a person who has sight would incur, there is no extra charge. Its major outstanding item is the fact that it supports more than twenty languages. It also has the capability to run from an external source such as an external drive without requiring installation into the computer.
Ivona TTS
This is the software that was developed by the IVO Software Company. It specialized in converting written material into audio. It has been able to penetrate a wide variety of business industries and market niches. IVONA TTS provides audio speed and output that is comparable with actual human speech. It has a great technological potential and provides an array of voices, licenses and codecs making it widely popular with many businesses, both small and large scale.
eSpeak
This software is compact and open source. It offers a speech synthesizer usable on various platforms such as Windows and Linux. By utilizing a format synthesis approach, it is able to provide a large number of dialects in a minimal size.
Text To Wav
NaturalReader
SmartRead
