I thought we had a thread on coding by voice, but maybe it was in one of the older versions of the site. If anyone is dealing with RSI or other hand problems, let me know. I looked into it a few years ago and may have some more links on my other computer.
I don’t think I’d ever consider coding by voice since much of the task involves a lot of symbols and whitespace and such which might make this a little cumbersome via spoken words.
Instead, I would suggest that a better approach would be to attach several electrodes to your arm in such a way that you might be able to think about typing the letter m and the interface then uses that as input. Or perhaps putting the electrode on the jawline area near the TMJ and then picking up the complete words like this. A combination then would allow you to think the keyword or variable name as if you’re considering speaking it out loud, a typical add-on for your IDE would already know what keywords and variables already exist and then present the standard contextual-continuation option. Symbols would be added via the muscle electrodes when you think about typing them. A hybrid device then could make leaps forward by typing entire words and then the fussy symbols and whitespace would be accomplished in muscle.
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There are many programmers with hand injuries. If someone could build a working product, it might be popular. It could also be used in assisted communication devices where people rely on typing to speak.
Well, I would be yet another of those coders who rubs his fingers and left hand almost daily this month. It’s likely another flavor of carpal tunnel of course. And I remember back in the late '80s having a bad case of carpal tunnel once. I hated life for an entire year.
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I’ve had some hand problems and it got so bad I couldn’t open doors or drive any more. Luckily, I’m doing much better now. The old thread was about how to set up the speech-to-text system I was trying to use in order to keep coding. It required Windows, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and some Python scripts.
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Did it work? Would you say that it was a useful exercise and that you could actually code in it?
If I were an author and wanted to write a first draft of a novel I would think that this voice-based input would be the bomb. So basically, just raw entry of words without italics or quotation marks or anything where you’re trying to highlight a word in place.
I did play with the voice control features built into macOS and found it to be a little cumbersome. And I wrote a J.A.R.V.I.S. Alexa interface for my 3D printer with perhaps 30 intents which worked out… okay, I guess.
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I once owned a Microsoft Natural keyboard and this was light-years better than standard keyboards for typing comfort. I’m careful now about desk height versus chair height and the angle my wrists make when I’m either typing or using the mouse.
For about two decades I forced myself to move my mouse every twelve months to my left hand. You then share the load, so-to-speak, allowing your right wrist a chance to heal.
I’ve often thought of creating a pair of split Bluetooth keyboards which you’d wear or prop onto the tops of your legs while sitting. Imagine just placing your hands palm-down on top of your legs. Your elbows would rest on your hips at each side and you’re not holding the weight of your arms all day. Your wrists are quite straight like this so that the tendons move freely through the carpal tunnel.
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I could code with it, but I didn’t get up to speed.
There are some videos on YouTube.
Here’s an example:
