This article shows the effectiveness of speech recognition technology applied to shipyards. In shipyards, transactional data must be retrieved and recorded using a variety of mobile computer devices. In our Tsu shipyard, we have been using Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) for pipe pickup work. But PDAs have some inherent problems including poor visibility of small characters, reflection on the display, frequent breakage, and workers having to stop their work to remove gloves to operate the PDA. So, we investigated speech recognition technology as a possible alternative to PDAs. We applied this system to pipe collection and delivery work and steel plate handling work. As a result, compared with PDA technology, the work productivity has increased by over 15% due to the hands-free and eyes-free nature of voice technology. Workers do not need to stop their work to interact with a screen or keyboard.
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