Windows Speech Recognition being dropped soon?

[AJZip 252]

I've done a number of searches and can't find any discussion about this.  Apologies if it is well-trodden ground and just point me to the appropriate thread, if so.

I am running Windows 11 and - every time I boot up - I get a pop-up telling me that MS will not be supporting Windows Speech Recognition in future upgrades.  Instead, they invite me to try 'voice access' (yes - they seem to use lower case), which I did try once but couldn't get it to work properly.

More recently, I have realised that every time I boot up MS have turned off Windows Speech Recognition and so I have to go into Windows Settings every time I log on to turn it back on again.

 

Assuming that the next Windows 11 update removes Windows Speech Recognition completely (which is the reality of what 'no longer supported' usually means in MS-speak), does anyone know if Pilot2ATC work with the replacement 'voice access' facility?  

[qqwertz 800]

Ah, good. That speech recognition never understood me (even when I spoke very clearly, and very simple sentences) and is the single reason why I don't use P2ATC anymore. My hope would be that P2ATC will use something else soon.

[Dave-Pilot2ATC 875]

Voice Access is the way you will interact with Windows to give commands, do typing in Word, etc.  It has nothing to do with Pilot2ATC.  You should not turn Windows Speech Recognition on when using P2A today and will not want Voice Access on when it comes out.  Otherwise, some of your speech might get interpreted as a command to Windows.

To improve recognition in P2A, you should perform the Speech Language Training that can be Accessed by pressing the Train button in the Grammar Helper screen.  You then should do the training for all the different controllers, which will train the Speech Recognition engine to understand how you pronounce the phrases common in Pilot2ATC.

Dave

[qqwertz 800]

Thanks for chiming in Dave. I have tried speech training excessively, both within and outside of P2ATC, to no avail. However, I might have turned on Windows speech recognition while using P2ATC. I will try it again without speech recognition.

Peter

[AJZip 252]

12 minutes ago, Dave-Pilot2ATC said:

Voice Access is the way you will interact with Windows to give commands, do typing in Word, etc.  It has nothing to do with Pilot2ATC.  You should not turn Windows Speech Recognition on when using P2A today and will not want Voice Access on when it comes out.  Otherwise, some of your speech might get interpreted as a command to Windows.

To improve recognition in P2A, you should perform the Speech Language Training that can be Accessed by pressing the Train button in the Grammar Helper screen.  You then should do the training for all the different controllers, which will train the Speech Recognition engine to understand how you pronounce the phrases common in Pilot2ATC.

Dave

Ah - this may explain some of the difficulties I've been having!

Many thanks for the clarification.

[AJZip 252]

3 minutes ago, AJZip said:

which will train the Speech Recognition engine to understand how you pronounce the phrases common in Pilot2ATC.

And here may be one of my areas of confusion, Dave.  I remember reading that in the (very comprehensive) set-up pack but may have misinterpreted it.

Is 'Speech Recognition engine' here an internal engine in Pilot2ATC?  I had assumed that it was the 'Windows Speech Recognition' engine. 

By the way, I really appreciate your quick and clear responses.  Many thanks. 

[Dave-Pilot2ATC 875]

P2A creates a private instance of the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine, separate and apart from the one you can turn on and off in Windows for commands, etc.  So it is the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine, but not the one you turn on and off.  Voice Access will replace the one you can turn on and off to interact with Windows, but P2A will continue to create its own instance.

Dave

[qqwertz 800]

21 minutes ago, Dave-Pilot2ATC said:

P2A creates a private instance of the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine, separate and apart from the one you can turn on and off in Windows for commands, etc.  So it is the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine, but not the one you turn on and off.  Voice Access will replace the one you can turn on and off to interact with Windows, but P2A will continue to create its own instance.

Dave

Ah, most informative. I will then wait until Voice Access will be used in P2ATC. Can't wait for this to happen, I really miss using P2ATC 🙂

[AJZip 252]

55 minutes ago, Dave-Pilot2ATC said:

P2A creates a private instance of the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine, separate and apart from the one you can turn on and off in Windows for commands, etc.  So it is the Microsoft Speech Recognition engine, but not the one you turn on and off.  Voice Access will replace the one you can turn on and off to interact with Windows, but P2A will continue to create its own instance.

Dave

Well, to be honest, this bit of knowledge has just transformed my experience ref my recent frustrations. 

I've been using Pilot2ATC for a few months now - and love it.  But I have NEVER until today, managed to get it to understand my voice commands twice running before.  Really.

Having now turned off Windows Speech Recognition altogether, I have just - for the very first time - been able to start up a flight and get Pilot2ATC to communicate with me, then shut the PC down, boot it up again, start another flight and get Pilot2ATC communicate with me a second time   .          It's a huge weight off my shoulders.

But you can perhaps see why I was confused and frustrated...and it sounds like @qqwertz was too.  

So many thanks for clarifying.  Might it be worth sticking the above clarification in a 'sticky' comment in the forum just in case @qqwertz and I aren't the only ones who had missed or misunderstood that vital bit of info and its significance?

Many thanks again to you Dave for putting us straight.

[AJZip 252]

Just had three successive flights and all working as it should     And that is the first time I've had that many faultless flights in one session.  

Two of the flights were in the CRJ700 EGPH to EGPD and back; the third flight was in the stock Cessna 172 EGNX to EGBB.  That final flight was full vector assist and was faultless. 

 

Many thanks again @Dave-Pilot2ATC for sorting out my issues and for the reassurance that the forthcoming dropping by MS of Windows Speech Recognition will not impact on Pilot2ATC.  I'll update the other thread I kicked off with the various changes I made that changed everything from utter frustration to pure joy. 

Can't wait to fly again!

[Dave-Pilot2ATC 875]

Thanks for the update and glad it all came together for you.

Dave

[threexgreen 3,160]

So is Microsoft abandoning speech recognition or not?

[AJZip 252]

2 hours ago, threexgreen said:

So is Microsoft abandoning speech recognition or not?

They are not abandoning recognition facilities, but they are dropping their default program and replacing it with another.  So, specifically, the Windows 11 'Windows Speech Recognition' will be dropped and replaced by Windows 11 'Voice Access'.

As Dave clarifies above, this will not impact on Pilot2ATC as that uses its own recognition facilities.

[qqwertz 800]

7 minutes ago, AJZip said:

As Dave clarifies above, this will not impact on Pilot2ATC as that uses its own recognition facilities.

I understood Dave that P2ATC will use Voice Access in the future, but using its own instance of it. If that is correct, there would be a significant internal change in how P2ATC recognizes voice, but nothing will change on the outside. Maybe Dave can clarify that point.

[Dave-Pilot2ATC 875]

At present, and as far as I know, the change to what Windows 11 uses for its Command recognition, will have no impact on Pilot2ATC at all.

Dave