The market for speech recognition software in Asia is ready to explode into the mainstream as advanced communications infrastructure and services in the region are rolled out, industry experts said.
The main drivers for this projected demand include growth of call centre facilities, wireless communications systems expansion, improvements in speech recognition technology and so-called voice portal applications.
Brian Strachman, senior analyst for voice applications service at market research firm Cahners In-Stat Group, said that new microprocessors were making speech recognition faster, better and cheaper. 'Demand from service providers and voice portals are creating new markets for speech recognition products,' he added.
Mr Strachman forecast that sales of speech recognition software engines would reach US$2.7 billion in 2005. The main software engine providers include Nuance, Speechworks, Lernout & Hauspie, IBM, Lucent Technologies, Locus Dialogue and Philips.
'Any region with a growing telecommunications infrastructure and a need for mobile communications will grow,' he told Technology Post.
In-Stat expects application developers and providers to make significant gains from this growing market.
'The result is a speech recognition-enabled world where the technology can be found at every office, call centre, wireless provider and e-vendor,' Mr Strachman said. He added that many speech recognition software vendors already offer engines equipped for several different Asian languages and dialects.