Speech recognition systems*Works cited not includedAbout twenty years ago, speech recognition systems were only visible on science fiction television channels and the viewer could not what to dream of the day when this technology would be possible. I know when I was younger, I watched Star Trek and saw Captain Kirk speaking to the computer, and not only did the computer understand his instructions, but it preformed the spoken commands perfectly. From what little I knew before embarking on this project, I thought that voice recognition systems were still primitive, but I discovered that I was wrong. I decided to explore the rapidly evolving world of speech recognition systems and ask the question: "What are speech recognition systems and how are they currently used?" For many years, people have wanted another way than the keyboard to preform computing. One of the first of these elements is the barcode reader, widely used today. This product revolutionized the IT industry but presents a large number of limitations. The wave of the future in data processing is so-called voice recognition encoding. Speech recognition encoding has been around for several years, but only recently has it become a viable solution. The main problem with voice recognition systems is that this technology was only recently available at a reasonable price. A company located in Boston, Massachusetts, nade Dragon Systems has created a product called NaturallySpeaking that has taken the market by storm and offers a cost-effective speech recognition system. This product is currently on the market and offers the possibility of replacing the cumbersome task of typing on the keyboard in the middle of a sheet......dictating an essay. Children and adults with disabilities can participate actively and easily in our technological society. In our computerized world, the applications of NaturallySpeaking are endless. This program will also save people time. Our hands can be free, allowing us to accomplish other tasks. Thanks to the speed and accuracy of NaturallySpeaking, the user no longer has to waste time on spelling mistakes. With the rapid growth of entrepreneurship in a world full of monopolies, small businesses can now operate competitively. without having to hire additional staff to carry out tedious tasks. The increasingly rapid pace of new computer technologies is quite astonishing. The NatruallySpaking voice recognition system has the ability to change the world just by inventing the computer itself. The applications of this program are as endless as the imagination.