[BETA] SpeechyVTS

[NeilM]

Thanks for the deep link. Speechy still does not appear for me in the UK Marketplace.

Now installed and working.

There are a few small issues

1) Only 3 languages available. Choosing others prompts that I need Speechy Pro

2) Even over WiFi the recognition time is slow- 5-8 seconds. I suspect this is beyond your control but it can seem a long pause when waiting with someone for a response!

3) The volume of the spoken repsonse is very low. My HTC Titan is a loud device, but even with the volume at 20 out of 30 it is hard to hear the response, even in a quiet room

4) Typo: In the language list you have 'Sweedish' which should be 'Swedish'

Works well overall, but I need to try the voice recognition in a noisier environment. At the moment I'm getting about 60% accurancy but repeating my phrase usually gets it right, so probably my accent and technique!

 

[lseidman]

Hi,

Thank you for the response, it should give you the option to upgrade shortly. The 2nd .9B was a test for an Ad/Pay as you go. The third .9B was released tonight, unsure how long until it appears.

It may also cure the audio issue, or I hope. As for the audio loudness, we've gone from Stereo now to Mono and if it doesn't improve we may offer an option to forcefully control the audio (upon acceptance).

Once you have the new beta, please let me know if these issues resolved and currently for actual voice were using Bing Translator. The time consuming issue may be if you record longer than 8-10secs, did you try and do translations longer? Additionally all audio recorded is transcribed via Cloud Speech Server and rendered and then spit back to the client and that's why we recommend less than 8 seconds.

Do you happen to have a thick accent? Also does it understand your speech properly if at all?

Thank you,
Lance

 

[NeilM]

Thanks- all my tests have been short phrases (What time is is, Where is the airport etc)

Practice has made it a lot better- I've never used the speech engine before. Overall recognition using the VTT function is pretty good.

I'll report back when the new Beta is up.

 

[lseidman]

Hi,

Thank you for results you've encountered as this helps us tremendously. Glad to hear the recognition of your voice appears to be good.

Microsoft is still pending on the new update but it is Certified by VeriSign, so that's good news.

 

[at45]

Erm, Should I point out that Polyglot already translates via speech and reads the translated text out loud? It has good language support and it's only 99p.

I think I'll also mention that the Bing search interface can translate via OCR for free.

 

[scoobysnacks]

Canadian here..

Market link won't work for me, it lets me go through the whole thing then says "can't get app, there was a problem"

 

[lseidman]

Thank you for your response, I am well aware of that App and Bing as I am sure anyone who came across this thread probably looked to see if something similar existed (so they could compare if they should waste their time or not).

I've know a few people who've had issues with Polyglot for WP7, haven't used it prior to Mango personally, so not sure what the success previously with it was. Also both translation methods are completely different. Usually the current way everyone seems to be offering this type of service is to record audio as a file and send it to Bing as a file to have it processed and if successful capture the Bing audio file for playback.

Ours captures the audio in a mono format with a specific audio level/settings (octane, pitch and balance (just in case stereo headset may be used and will balance L/R Channels) and sends it to a cloud server with a speech engine and breaks it down. Once broken down in the several seconds/bytes/pieces it is then taken and sent to Bing based on actual letters that make sense and usually pretty percise wording.

In turn makes the translated audio to audio language output make more sense (e.g. You say "This is a test"; Traditional conversions may pick it up as "This is a pest" or "This is a past") especially if you have an accent, lisp or don't talk loud enough and exactly why when we run it via a speech server as it runs through several routines to try and make what you say make as much sense as possible and if it's truly unknown it tries to auto-correct as close as it can to what you mean't to say (Which may take a slight bit more time).

The two App's are entirely different when it comes to really everything. At this time I am not offering text-conversion, maybe later on but not trying to make that type of App unless for whatever reason gets requested and not looking to try and allow the conversion to be saved or send to a friend, just a Speak and Convert to Output (language) as I am looking for idiot proof. Sure same functionality as for voice to voice but look at the 20 something "Flashlight" App's that exist or "Bubble Pop", and even "Tetris/Blocks". Just like those, each one is different/offers something (from colors to UI to whatever) but all in all just different way of doing what already exists.

As for the Bing search option, have you used it? You have actual success with it? You'd be one of the few to say it was decent as I can't sometimes get it to recognize Barcodes let alone wording on a Newspaper. Never the less, WP7 comes with a pre-built Facebook and Twitter App but not many opt-in to using it as the client App's would cease to exist in the Marketplace.

In the end, if someone wishes to use our App, they will. I can't be too worried about it as if I was, probably nothing I ever make would get done lol and that would include probably Polyglot as Bing existed before them. Nevertheless, I appreciate your input.

 

[lseidman]

Correct. It is a private beta, without your Live ID listed as a participant you wouldn't be able to obtain it.

Canadian here..

Market link won't work for me, it lets me go through the whole thing then says "can't get app, there was a problem"

 

[scoobysnacks]

Correct. It is a private beta, without your Live ID listed as a participant you wouldn't be able to obtain it.

ohhh kk makes sense haha

If you need anyone else let me know

 

[lseidman]

Absolutely. You may wish to privately message your ID as I wouldn't want others to know it, or rather spambots (never can be too careful).

Also, a new deeplink is being rendered but I will add your email to it and you'll be able to download it without a hitch .

Thank you,
Lance

ohhh kk makes sense haha

If you need anyone else let me know

 

[lseidman]

The new Deeplink download is: http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=85c92556-0bae-4ace-9111-52f8b2560950.

Please upgrade...

Thank you!

Note: Remove old install prior to new install.

 

[scoobysnacks]

accuracy is really good..

Gripes I have are that the output is very low, even at max volume..

Also you can't change languages on the fly.

If you want to change languages you have to rerecord what you want translated.

Good work though, very handy app

 

[lseidman]

Hello,

Thank you for your input, I do appreciate it. We're now using XDA to output audio and have overwritten audio control on the device as well as balanced the audio output in the latest beta... It should be noticeably better sounding, once you get the latest update if you could let me know the results on the audio situation that would be extremely useful!

Also, I made a note to allow a re-translate option so you don't have to re-record (At first we thought of course and then we figured maybe not needed if they are in a country that only speaks French, they wouldn't need Japanese translation.) but not the current but the next update will have this feature (we'll create the icon and function for it).

Thank you again,
Lance

accuracy is really good..

Gripes I have are that the output is very low, even at max volume..

Also you can't change languages on the fly.

If you want to change languages you have to rerecord what you want translated.

Good work though, very handy app

 

[badboy70]

I'd like to try it
I'm running an unlocked HTC HD7 (Europe)