Speaker-independent continuous speech recognition processor that runs on a 68040 and works with unmodified Macintoshes is being hailed as a breakthrough for Apple Computer Inc. The company demonstrated the experimental technology at the MacWorld exhibition in the Tokyo suburbs last week, and again at the Technology, Entertainment & Design conference in Monterey, California late on Friday. The software, developed for Apple by Taiwan-born Kaifu Lee, who did the basic research on continuous speech recognition at Carnegie Mellon University and adapted it to the 68040 after being hired by Apple, is designed to enable users to carry out all the operations normally handled via the mouse by simply speaking to the computer. Apple is not saying anything about when it might appear as a product, but it is expected to turn up in Apple’s planned portable personal communications devices as well as being offered with the Macintosh.
