Speech recognition and speech synthesizes

[virror]

So, when has the technology for voice recognition and synthesizes evolved to the point it can be used in games to communicate with NPCs?
I think a simple version of this can be used already, like a shop NPC can react on voice within a certain radius of the player and a set of words like shop, buy, sell, trade, would be pretty cool i think.
Any game tried this yet? Also local voice chat in an MMO would be cool, so you could talk to everyone within a certain radius.

[MSat]

I think speech recognition and synthesis can have a ton of value not just for interacting with NPCs, but for things like menus and status as well. For instance, instead of having a hud for information such as health or ammo in the player's view, why not call out something like "health status" which responds with the answer, as if the avatar has a voice operated PDA? It's also useful in cases where you don't have enough buttons on your controllers for all the in-game functionality.

Speech recognition has come a long way, and I believe is sufficiently mature and robust to be usable in games (or content creation software). The only thing that may be holding people back is their reluctance to use it.

[Mystify]

y not call out something like "health status" which responds with the answer, as if the avatar has a voice operated PDA?

I really dislike that idea. Your health is something you need to be able to ascertain very quickly. Having to say something, then listen to someone say a response, is way too slow of a feedback cycle. Its extremely cumbersome, and likely much more annoying, than a classic health bar. Granted, a health bar may not be appropriate for a VR game, but I would honestly prefer to have a health bar flash up in the center of my vision when I get hurt rather than having to activate a voice command, as awful as that would be.

[MSat]

Fair enough. It was just one example. I still think it has plenty of viable uses.