Usability of Continuous Speech Recognition Programs

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Usability of ContinuousSpeech Recognition
Programs
Hsin Eu Committee Alan Hedge, Ph.D. Geri Gay,
Ph.D. Design and Environmental Analysis Cornell
University
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Overview

• Continuous speech recognition programs were
  brought to market at the end of 1997, with claims
  that they were capable of recognizing users
  continuous speech and translating this into text
  processing software accurately.

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Research Goal

• The research goal was to determine the critical
  factors that affect the usability of speech
  recognition programs in order to generate
  universal guidelines for the future design of
  continuous speech recognition software.

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Literature Review
1. Speech Recognition Technology

• Terminology

• History of Speech Recognition

• Components of Speech Recognition

• Factors Influence the Performance of Speech
  Recognition

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Literature Review (Cont.)
2. Using Speech Recognition

• Strengths and Limitations

• Applications of Speech Recognition

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Literature Review (Cont.)
3. Current Speech Recognition Software

• Setup, Training, and Dictation

• Features of Current Speech Recognition Programs

• Product Performance

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Literature Review (Cont.)
4. Human Computer Interaction in Speech
Recognition

• The Interaction between Users and Recognition
  Programs

• Program and Human Errors

• User Characteristics and Task Performance

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Literature Review (Cont.)
Human Computer Interaction in Speech
Recognition (cont.)

• Guidelines for the Interface Design
• (excerpted from McLeod, 1988)

- Procedures for developing and implementing an
application to meet the needs of the users,
including vocabulary design, feedback and error
recovery strategies and training techniques.
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Literature Review (Cont.)

• Guidelines for the Interface Design
• (excerpted from McLeod, 1988)

-Procedures for identifying and controlling
sources of inter- and intra- person variability.
-Consideration of the implications of the
technology on the organization of working groups.
-Techniques for assessing the usability of a
recognition system, including overall task
performance, physical and mental workload and
users subjective responses.
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Research I Web Survey
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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)
I-1. Methods

• Subjects 351 respondents (including 143
  CSRP-users)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Survey Instrument
• Section A General Computer Use
• 13 questions/ 45 items, completed by all
  respondents (approx. 3-5 minutes)
• Section B Usability of CSRP
• 31 questions / 201 items, completed by
  CSRP-users (approx. 15-20 minutes)

• Procedure

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)
I-2. Results and Discussion on Findings

• General Computer Use

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• General Computer Use (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)
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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• Usability of CSRP (Cont.)

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Research I Web Survey (Cont.)

• I-3. Discussion
• Limitations
• - Survey distribution

- Survey length
- Survey format
- Qualitative information

• Future Research

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Research II Usability Testing
II-1. Methods

• Subjects 10 Cornell students
• - 5 females and 5 males
• - 8 CSRP-novices and 2 CSRP-users
• - Age ranged 21-30

• Setting and Instruments
• - MVR computer lab
• - Dell Pentium II MMX PC/ Windows 98
• - Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 3.0

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-1. Methods (cont.)

• Procedure
• - Setup and training

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)

• Procedure (cont.)
• - Research design

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
- Research design (cont.)
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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-1. Methods (cont.)

• Procedure (cont.)
• - Dependent variables
• 1. Transcription time
• 2. Number of transcription errors
• 3. Editing time
• 4. Total completion time

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-2. Results and Discussion on Findings

• Modality of Transcription

• Gender

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-2. Results and Discussion on Findings (cont.)

• Modality of Editing

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-2. Results and Discussion on Findings (cont.)

• Modality of Editing (cont.)

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-2. Results and Discussion on Findings (cont.)

• Experience on CSRP/DNS

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-2. Results and Discussion on Findings (cont.)

• Experience on CSRP/DNS (cont.)

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-2. Results and Discussion on Findings (cont.)

• Readability of Articles

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-3. Discussion

• Compare Findings to Previous Research

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Research II Usability Testing (Cont.)
II-3. Discussion (cont.)

• Limitations
• - Sample size

- CSRP-users
- Testing time
- Human performance v.s. program performance
- Article readability

• Future Research

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Conclusion

• Critical Factors that affect CSRP usability

- Program accuracy - Program reliability -
Requirement of user-dependent training -
Requirement of memorization - Ease of error
correction - Ability to learn from mistakes -
Accommodation for people with disabilities -
Hardware compatibility - Environmental noise level
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Conclusion (Cont.)

• Guidelines for Future Design

A continuous speech recognition program should -
have high program accuracy - have high program
reliability - eliminate the requirement of
user-dependent training - reduce the
requirement of memorization - maximize the ease
of error correction - have the ability to learn
from mistakes - accommodate the needs of people
with disabilities - provide a wide range of
hardware compatibility - minimize the
sensitivity to environmental noise