On a mission to find the best voice-recognition software for Raspberry Pi, I installed and tested three different systems. Two were internet-dependent and one was offline.

Out of these three, the Voice Control software created by Steven Hickson seems to be the most precise and potent.

The Jasper system, even though it works offline, compromises accuracy and speed. This would be useful for systems that have no access to the internet, though. A small caveat: The system takes up almost a whole 4GB memory card, so use at least an 8GB card with it. Some of its services are cumbersome and take a lot of effort from the user to pronounce repeatedly until the system picks it up.

The softwares presented by Oscar and Steven use Google voice APIs, they are very accurate and precise. Both of them also use Google speech, so the system can be manipulated to talk back and respond to your commands and queries. But I prefer the third software because it has a simple and straightforward interface. Here, you will be able to define each of your voice commands and link them to particular tasks in the form of bash commands. These are defined inside a configuration file.

Following is a detailed tutorial explaining the installation and use of this voice recognition software for Raspberry Pi. The video at the bottom gives you a feel for the voice control software before you install it.

You cannot use normal microphones with audio jacks because the raspberry pi does not have a sound card. Hence, only use USB webcams with inbuilt mic or USB microphones. I am using a cheap USB webcam with an inbuilt mic.