NAVY WIRE SERVICE (NWS) - November 1, 1999 

NWS01nov-7. New Navy-supported machine recognizes spoken
words better than humans
by Loretta DeSio, Office of Naval Research Public Affairs
    WASHINGTON (NWS) -- The U.S. Navy is supporting new
speech recognition research for its potential benefits to
Navy sonar. Biomedical engineers at the University of
Southern California have created the world's first machine
system that can recognize spoken words better than humanscan.
    In benchmark testing, USC's speech recognition system
bested all existing computer systems and outperformed the
keenest human ears. The system may eventually advance voice
control of computers and other machines, help the deaf, aid
air traffic controllers and others who must understand
speech in noisy environments, and instantly produce clean
transcripts of conversations, with each speaker correctly
identified.
    "We'll definitely see an improvement in the interaction
between man and computer," said ONR Program Officer Joel
Davis, who helps fund the research. "With speech recognition
capability, computer keyboards could become obsolete." A
demonstration of the Berger-Liaw Neural Network Speaker-
Independent Speech Recognition System can be found on line
at: http://www.usc.edu/ext-relations/news-service/real/real_video.html