The Ultimate User Interface

Star Trek had it right: Speech is the best user interface. We're starting to see innovative applications that use speech to turn on and off the lights in your house, for example, or to tie all your inboxes together and give you access to their contents from a remote phone, or to replace touch-tone phone commands and menus.

Registry Magic Virtual Operator, from Registry Magic, is a new office automation tool that can answer and direct calls without an operator. A bank can program it to chec k a customer's balance after it matches a verbal password to their stored voiceprint.

Keyware Technologies recently released a software development kit that will allow system integrators and value-added developers to create software verification applications based on VoiceGuardian software technology. The SDK provides an API for voice verification using a dynamic link library, ActiveX control, or Windows NT service. This API can be used to construct secure stand-alone or client/server applications. It also includes sample programs for a voice-secured Web site.

The company also sells an application that combines both facial and voice verification technologies in a single integrated security system. Called Keyware S2 Security Server, the system matches facial and vocal input against a centrally stored user profile. In highly sensitive or classified areas, a special input station could prompt a user for a password while capturing a facial image and asking that the user speak an ID into a microphone.

And on the home front, you can now control almost every appliance in your house from anywhere in the world. A program called HAL2000, from Home Aut omated Living, provides interactive control of your domestic domain through continuous speech recognition technology. You just speak naturally to your appliances. Household appliances are controlled using X-10, RF, or infrared devices.