My Dream App - Voice Driven Keyboard

[nelsonaddison]

Hello,

First, I apologize if I posted this in the wrong forum.

I have Cerebral palsy which affects both my speech and finger dexterity. On my computer, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking and it works well for me, mostly because I use it constantly and I have come to understand the patterns it expects. I have not had the same luck with the voice apps on my Android phone. Because I used to be a programmer myself, I think I can imagine and describe the app I would like to see. I don't know if it would be useful for others, but maybe it would be a nice accessibility app.

VOICE CONTROLLED KEYBOARD

1. It would display a normal keyboard, except the letters on the keyboard would be replaced with the corresponding word from the NATO Phonetic Radio Alphabet ("alpha", "bravo", "charlie", etc.). When the user speaks a keystroke, the keyboard responds as if the key had been pressed - the key would highlight and/or bubble, the character would be typed in the textbox, and the app would await the next command. Letters would be commanded by the NPRA. Numbers, punctuation, backspace, ect. would be spoken normally -- except for nine which would be pronounced "niner" to avoid confusion with five. This would reduce the total vocabulary for the app to about sixty commands. In fact, because there is no need for a physical keyboard, you could put all commands into a simple grid.

2. A trainer would be included, allowing the user to train all the commands, to improve accuracy. Optionally, the trainer could include the ability change from the standard NPRA command to a personalized command. For example, I have a problem with the word "foxtrot" -- it's hard for me to pronounce and I can't dance. In NaturallySpeaking, I was able to set a command to type "f" with "Frodo."

I realize that most people can speak clearly and have no need for an app that allows them to spell words out. But for me, reducing the number of commands to the point where they can be explicitly trained would be a lot easier. I'm just wondering what you think. Is this app possible? Does such a thing exist already?

NATO Phonetic Radio Alphabet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet

[Jet]

Thats a good idea for an app ! I however do not think that there is anything similar to that, or am I wrong? SimmS?!

[nelsonaddison]

I have never written Java, never written a phone app, but I want this. So I've decided to learn enough to be dangerous and jump in head first. Hell, back in the day, I used to learn new languages in less than a week. Once a programmer, always a programmer. Right?