<s>
This	O
is	O
a	O
timeline	B-General_Concept
of	I-General_Concept
speech	I-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
voice	I-General_Concept
recognition	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
technology	O
which	O
enables	O
the	O
recognition	O
and	O
translation	O
of	O
spoken	O
language	O
into	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Time	O
period	O
Key	O
developments	O
1877	O
–	O
1971	O
Speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
is	O
at	O
an	O
early	O
stage	O
of	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1971	O
–	O
1987	O
Speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
rapidly	O
improves	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
technology	O
is	O
still	O
not	O
commercially	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1987	O
–	O
2014	O
Speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
continues	O
to	O
improve	O
,	O
becomes	O
widely	O
available	O
commercially	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
in	O
many	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1936	O
Invention	O
A	O
team	O
of	O
engineers	O
at	O
Bell	O
Labs	O
,	O
led	O
by	O
Homer	O
Dudley	O
,	O
begins	O
work	O
on	O
the	B-Application
Voder	I-Application
,	O
the	O
first	O
electronic	O
speech	B-Application
synthesizer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
1939	O
March	O
21	O
Invention	O
Dudley	O
is	O
granted	O
a	O
patent	O
for	O
the	B-Application
Voder	I-Application
,	O
US	O
patent	O
2151091	O
A	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1939	O
–	O
1940	O
Demonstration	O
The	B-Application
Voder	I-Application
is	O
demonstrated	O
at	O
the	O
1939-1940	O
World	O
's	O
Fair	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
City	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1962	O
Demonstration	O
IBM	O
demonstrates	O
the	B-General_Concept
Shoebox	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
machine	O
that	O
can	O
understand	O
up	O
to	O
16	O
spoken	O
words	O
in	O
English	O
,	O
at	O
the	O
1962	O
Seattle	O
World	O
's	O
Fair	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1971	O
–	O
1976	O
Program	O
DARPA	O
funds	O
five	O
years	O
of	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
research	O
with	O
the	O
goal	O
of	O
ending	O
up	O
with	O
a	O
machine	O
capable	O
of	O
understanding	O
a	O
minimum	O
of	O
1,000	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
1980s	O
Technique	O
The	O
hidden	O
Markov	O
model	O
begins	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
systems	O
,	O
allowing	O
machines	O
to	O
more	O
accurately	O
recognize	O
speech	O
by	O
predicting	O
the	O
probability	O
of	O
unknown	O
sounds	O
being	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1987	O
Invention	O
The	O
invention	O
of	O
the	O
World	O
of	O
Wonder	O
's	O
Julie	O
Doll	O
,	O
a	O
toy	O
children	O
could	O
train	O
to	O
respond	O
to	O
their	O
voice	O
,	O
brings	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
technology	I-Application
to	O
the	O
home	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1990	O
Invention	O
Dragon	O
launches	O
Dragon	B-General_Concept
Dictate	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
first	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
product	O
for	O
consumers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1993	O
Invention	O
Speakable	B-Operating_System
items	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
first	O
built-in	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
and	O
voice	O
enabled	O
control	O
software	O
for	O
Apple	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
1993	O
Invention	O
Sphinx-II	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
first	O
large-vocabulary	O
continuous	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
system	O
,	O
is	O
invented	O
by	O
Xuedong	O
Huang	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2002	O
Application	O
Microsoft	O
integrates	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
into	O
their	O
Office	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2006	O
Application	O
The	O
National	O
Security	O
Agency	O
begins	O
using	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
to	O
isolate	O
keywords	O
when	O
analyzing	O
recorded	O
conversations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2007	O
January	O
30	O
Application	O
Microsoft	O
releases	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Windows	O
to	O
incorporate	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
2007	O
Invention	O
Google	B-Application
introduces	O
GOOG-411	O
,	O
a	O
telephone-based	O
directory	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2008	O
November	O
14	O
Application	O
Google	B-Application
launches	O
the	O
Voice	O
Search	O
app	O
for	O
the	O
iPhone	B-Device
,	O
bringing	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
technology	I-Application
to	O
mobile	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2011	O
October	O
4	O
Invention	O
Apple	O
announces	O
Siri	B-Application
,	O
a	O
digital	O
personal	O
assistant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
recognize	O
speech	O
,	O
Siri	B-Application
is	O
able	O
to	O
understand	O
the	O
meaning	O
of	O
what	O
it	O
is	O
told	O
and	O
take	O
appropriate	O
action	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
2014	O
April	O
2	O
Application	O
Microsoft	O
announces	O
Cortana	O
,	O
a	O
digital	O
personal	O
assistant	O
similar	O
to	O
Siri	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
2014	O
November	O
6	O
Invention	O
Amazon	B-Application
announces	O
the	O
Echo	O
,	O
a	O
voice-controlled	O
speaker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Echo	O
is	O
powered	O
by	O
Alexa	O
,	O
a	O
digital	O
personal	O
assistant	O
similar	O
to	O
Siri	B-Application
and	O
Cortana	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Siri	B-Application
and	O
Cortana	O
are	O
not	O
the	O
most	O
important	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
devices	O
on	O
which	O
they	O
run	O
,	O
the	O
Echo	O
is	O
dedicated	O
to	O
Alexa	O
.	O
</s>
