Smartphone users may soon find a new use for voice recognition features, as a new study found the these can be used to create text messages much faster than typing on keyboards.
In the study conducted by researchers from the Stanford University, the University of Washington, and Chinese internet giant Baidu, voice recognition software found in smartphones were found to be three times faster in composing messages than using a keyboard, the Global Times reported.
The software was also shown to be more accurate, with a 20.4 percent lower error rate in messages in English and 63.4 percent lower in Mandarin.
The team got 32 participants for the study, each ranging in age from 19 to 32, and let them take turns typing and speaking 100 phrases taken from everyday conversations. For the typing part of the test, one-half of the participants entered the phrases in English using the standard QWERTY keyboard, while the other did the part in Mandarin Chinese using the Pinyin keyboard for the Apple IOS.
"They grew up testing, so we put speech recognition up against people who are very good at this task," James Landay, a co-author of the study, explained about their procedure.
According to Landay, speech recognition has been a highly touted area of research for decades but has not yet quite delivered on its promises. However, he noted, the technology has been making leaps in the last three years, thanks to big data and deep learning technologies, the Stanford University News reported.
While the team only used Baidu's own speech recognition software, the research team said that such a performance could also possibly be seen in other high-accuracy speech engines. Landay added that their research could help further develop the platform.
"We should put voice in applications other than just typing an email or a text message," he added.