Such uses offer greater latitude in accuracy because control commands are given at less than the normal typing rate of 60 words per minute and because it's easier to see errors and correct them, often by merely repeating the command. A talking dog is a good metaphor for today's continuous speech recognition for desktop computers. Today's more advanced software has larger vocabularies and a higher degree of accuracy than software of the past, but only when users pause between words or brief phrases. Such programs are useful for users such as radiologists, who dictate standardized descriptions of X-rays, and for disabled users. But discrete speaking is unnatural, and it is unsuitable for any dictation if the user can instead use a keyboard.
Continuous speech is how people usually talk or dictate.
Until computers can recognize and process that kind of speech as accurately and quickly as the average user can key in data or commands, speech recognition won't replace the keyboard. About a year ago, IBM Corp. and Dragon Systems Inc. of Newton, Mass., introduced inexpensive continuous speech recognition software. Although both programs work, neither can keep up with a reasonably fast typist. People normally speak faster than that. Although the programs can match the 95 percent accuracy rate of an average typist typing at 60 words per minute, they can't duplicate human error awareness.