Voice recognition and control systems were frequently mentioned as the computer input of the future. It was supposed to replace keyboard input, and even was going to provide all your home controls for lights and appliances. But then we learned how hard the problem is, and how much of human listening is tied to our understanding of language and contextual information.
But with more realistic goals, speech input might have a place in our mobile future after all. Those who have used the newer versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking, for example, will have an idea of how far such programs have come. You can actually speak text and it will be recognized. Years ago, I played around with state of the art software, and it just wasn't worth using. Now it is.
With devices like the new UMPCs, we are finding that powerful devices are coming in smaller and smaller packages for computing on the go. Together with progress in voice recognition software, it is becoming evident that you might be able to control a mobile device with speech after all.
For an example of what I mean, take a look at this
video demo of speech control of a Vista system. You can both see that it's not perfect, and that it has great potential. And apparently it's much better than what was included in early versions of Vista. Of special interest for mobile computing is the later portions of the video with web browsing using voice commands.
And don't forget that it doesn't have to be entirely voice controlled to be useful. We are happy to use both the D-pad control and a fingernail when using a Treo, so why not do a combination of voice and other inputs for mobile computing also? After all, you aren't always in a location where you can speak freely anyway, such as in a theater or library.
Speech control may not be like the movies in our lifetime, but it just might become a useful supplementary input method for many people in the next few years. And what voice recognition application could be easier than e-book reading? Surely any software can learn to recognize a "turn page" command!