Do you ever wish you could talk to your computer like Star Trek and have it do what you want? While the programming and other considerations for that kind of advancement is still in the future, you can actually do an awful lot through voice recognition these days, and it’s not like it was in your dad’s day.
Voice Ace is a free Chrome App that lets you interface with your computer on a whole new level while surfing the web and it’s designed to automatically recognize and instigate a number of functions just on a command from your voice.
You’ve probably seen those commercials for the voice recognition software that costs lots of money but allows you to give orders and dictation to your computer.
What you might not know is that there are lots of free ways out there to do the same things, and while the computer may not speak to you in Majel Barrett’s voice, it will understand what you’re saying and respond appropriately. Voice Ace is one of the better ways to do this, and it’s such a simple and user friendly system I would even recommend it for children of a young (but not toddler) age. Additionally, people with arthritis or other issues that make typing tough or impossible can benefit from Voice Ace.
Once you install Voice Ace to your Chrome browser, you’ll then see a tiny icon in the lower right of your screen whenever you are browsing the web. That little icon is your verbal doorway to nearly anything you want to do on the web. With more than fifty different functions pre-programmed, you’ll find yourself hard-pressed to think of something it can’t do on the web. It does everything from automatically posting to Facebook or Twitter to playing music, translating and speaking web pages aloud, playing games (Be The King is especially fun, a game designed specifically for Voice Ace users) and of course basic surfing commands like open new tabs or modify bookmarks. Clicking on the little icon will begin active listening mode and then you speak and your will is done. It’s just such a neat concept and it’s a lot of fun telling the computer what to do, like finding a local place to eat or getting your horoscope online without typing a single key!
The actual execution of these commands works quite well, and it didn’t take long for the system to begin adjusting to my voice and speech patterns, which was a nice surprise since I didn’t see that listed as a feature. The one big downside I found was the rather frequent voice reminders to like them and share their link on Facebook, as well as the sometimes startling sound of the yipping dog mascot for the program but these are minor inconveniences and don’t detract from the usefulness of the program. This is definitely one of those I recommend you try for yourself and see how much use you get from it. You may discover that you no longer want to interact with the web or your PC non-verbally, who knows? Until next time, my friends!
- Get the Voice Ace Chrome extension here
