ABSTRACT
Furthermore, excessive use of a keyboard and mouse causes occupational health problems (Luximon 2001). Recent studies have found a high incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), an inflammation of the tendon sheath inside the carpal tunnel of the wrist. This has been associated with irregular hand posture when using a keyboard and mouse. Even though many studies have been carried out to improve keyboard design, CTS continues to be a problem as the frequency of keyboard usage has increased drastically because of the increase in computer adoption. One way of avoiding CTS is to eliminate or reduce manual input. In addition, although not widely studied, neck pain has been observed in people using computers. Owing to unnatural postures being adopted, the neck and back may not always be in the correct position either during work or rest periods, thus leaving the body stressed and painful. In addition, voice output can be used for feedback during dictation or keying, reducing the length of time spent looking at the computer screen, which can
cause eye strain. Workstation design can be improved with voice technology as there is no need to sit with irregular wrist posture, kyphotic back, or lordotic neck. Users will be able to adopt a natural posture, stand, or even lie down while talking through their voice interfaces. Efficient voice input methods will free people from manual input-created pains.
