A stenomask is a hand-held

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

built into a padded, sound-proof enclosure that fits over the speaker's mouth or nose and mouth. Some lightweight versions may be fitted with an elastic neck strap to hold them in place while freeing the user's hands for other tasks. The purpose of a stenomask is to allow a person to speak without being heard by other people, and to keep background noise away from the microphone. A stenomask is useful for

speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the m ...

applications, because it allows voice

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

in noisy environments. Perhaps more importantly, a stenomask silences the user's voice so that it does not interfere with the surrounding environment such as a court or a classroom. The user can verbally identify the speaker, indicate gestures and unspoken answers, and describe activities as they take place. An operator of a stenomask can be trained to "re-voice" everything he or she hears into a stenomask connected to a speech recognition system, for a real-time text transcription of everything spoken. This allows a "

voice writer Voice writing is a method used for court reporting, medical transcription, CART, and closed captioning. Using the voice writing method, a court reporter speaks directly into a stenomask or speech silencer - a hand-held mask containing one or two ...

" to produce instant text feeds within a courtroom and distribute them in

plain text In computing, plain text is a loose term for data (e.g. file contents) that represent only characters of readable material but not its graphical representation nor other objects (floating-point numbers, images, etc.). It may also include a limit ...

format immediately after a proceeding. The equipment can also interface with litigation management software. A trained operator using a stenomask connected to a pre-trained speech recognition system can exceed 180 words per minute while at the same time exceeding 95 percent accuracy. They may also modify the pronunciation of the words they are speaking in order to improve accuracy. In comparison to conventional approaches like

Gregg shorthand Gregg shorthand is a form of shorthand that was invented by John Robert Gregg in 1888. Like cursive longhand, it is completely based on elliptical figures and lines that bisect them. Gregg shorthand is the most popular form of pen stenography in ...

and

stenotype A steno machine, stenotype machine, shorthand machine, stenograph or steno writer is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. In order to pass the United States Registered Professional Reporter test, a ...

technology, the main disadvantage of stenomask technology is the distinctive visual appearance of the operator when speaking into the stenomask. As the ''Dallas Morning News'' put it, they "can channel their inner

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

." In covering Wisconsin's first official voice writer, the ''Racine Journal Times'' began by explaining that the mask is not "a way to summon his minions to build the

Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and Weapon of mass destruction, superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' Space opera, space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire (Star Wars), Galactic Empire, the Death Star ...

." Microphones that work much like a stenomask are used by aircraft ground crews to communicate with cockpit crews in airport environments with extreme engine noise, and are usually part of their

headsets Headset may refer to: * Headset (audio), audio headphone(s), particularly with an attached microphone * Head Set (band), an American alternative rock band * Headset (bicycle part), a bicycle part that connects the fork to the frame * Head-mounted ...

History

The stenomask was developed by

Horace Webb Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

and two colleagues in the early 1940s. He was proficient with Gregg shorthand, but sought a more accurate and faster system of transcription, as shorthand notes can become unmanageable with fast talkers or difficult terminology. Furthermore, until speech recognition software became accurate enough for everyday use in the mid-1990s, shorthand reporters would verbally dictate transcription notes into typewritten form, resulting in about two hours dictation for every hour transcribing. Thus, Webb thought he could "repeat it with my voice instead of with a pen". After much experimentation — first with a cigar box and then a tomato juice can — he arrived at a solution using a microphone inside a military aviator's rubber

oxygen mask An oxygen mask provides a method to transfer breathing oxygen gas from a storage tank to the lungs. Oxygen masks may cover only the nose and mouth (oral nasal mask) or the entire face (full-face mask). They may be made of plastic, silicone, or r ...

, paired with a coffee pot filled with sound-absorbing material. The result was eventually deemed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be the most accurate method of transcription among "all known systems of verbatim reporting", and was subsequently adopted for use in their court reporting.The Horace Webb Story
, ''National Verbatim Reporters Assoc'', retrieved 13 Mar 2007

References

{{Reflist

External links

National Verbatim Reporters Association
Speech recognition Court reporting Assistive technology Transcription (linguistics)