Using voice writing, a court reporter speaks directly into a stenomask or speech silencer, a hand-held mask containing one or two microphones, and voice-dampening materials.
Voice writers can be used to record speeches by judges, witnesses, attorneys, and other parties to a proceeding, including gestures and emotional reactions, and either provide a real-time feed or prepare transcripts afterward.
The method of court reporting known as voice writing, formerly called "stenomask," was developed by Horace Webb in the World War II era.
[1] A voice writing system consists of a stenomask, an external sound digitizer, and speech recognition software.
A real-time voice writer's words go through the mask's cable to an external USB digital signal processor.