Voice to Text for Research Assistants
Research assistants juggle literature reviews, data collection, PI communications, and endless documentation. Blurt lets you capture your thoughts the moment they form — while reading papers, during experiments, or between meetings. Hold a button, speak naturally, release. Your notes appear wherever your cursor is — in Word, Zotero, lab notebooks, email. No more forgetting insights while switching between tasks. No more staying late to type up the day's observations. Just speak and document.
The Typing Problem
Losing insights while reading literature
You're deep in a paper, finally understanding how it connects to your PI's hypothesis. The insight is clear in your mind right now. But switching to type notes means losing your place, breaking concentration, and often forgetting the connection by the time you finish writing. So you highlight and move on. Three weeks later, you can't remember why you highlighted that paragraph.
Data collection documentation piling up
Each participant session, each experiment run, each field observation needs documentation. You scribble quick notes during collection, planning to type them up properly later. But later never comes until the night before the deadline. You're staring at cryptic shorthand, trying to remember what 'PT3 - unusual resp @ 2:34' meant. The details that matter most are already gone.
PI communications eating your research time
Your PI needs a status update. The collaborator wants clarification on methodology. The grad student is asking about protocols. Each email takes 10 minutes to compose properly — formal enough for academia, detailed enough to be useful. You could explain any of this in 30 seconds out loud, but typing it professionally takes forever. Your actual research keeps getting pushed to evenings.
Experiment logs that never get written
You know you should document every deviation from protocol, every unexpected observation, every equipment adjustment. Good research demands it. But when you're in the middle of running an experiment, stopping to type detailed notes breaks your concentration and risks the procedure. So you write minimal notes and promise to expand them later. The detailed version never happens.
Administrative research tasks consuming your day
IRB amendments, grant progress reports, equipment requisitions, meeting minutes, protocol documentation. The paperwork of research never ends. You became a research assistant to do research, but half your day is typing administrative documents. Each one is straightforward but time-consuming. By the time you finish the paperwork, you're too drained for the actual science.
How It Works
Blurt works in every app research assistants use — Word, Google Docs, Zotero, EndNote, Slack, email clients. Anywhere you can place a cursor on macOS.
Hold your hotkey
Press your chosen shortcut. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening. Keep your eyes on your paper or experiment.
Speak your thoughts
Dictate your literature note, observation, or email reply. Use natural language — Blurt handles punctuation and formatting.
Release and continue
Text appears at your cursor instantly. No copying, no app switching. Back to your research in seconds.
Real Scenarios
Capturing literature review insights in real-time
You're reading a methodology paper and suddenly see how it applies to your current project. Without looking away from the PDF, hold your hotkey and speak: 'Chen 2024 uses stratified sampling for heterogeneous populations — could apply to our participant recruitment. See figure 3 for implementation.' Note captured in Zotero while your eyes never left the page. The insight is preserved. Your reading flow continues unbroken.
Documenting data collection observations
You're running a participant through a protocol and notice an unexpected behavior pattern. Between tasks, hold your button and speak: 'Participant 14 showed hesitation at decision point 3, asked for clarification twice. May indicate ambiguity in instructions — flag for protocol revision.' Observation documented in 8 seconds. No fumbling for a notebook. No trying to remember the details later.
Writing PI update emails quickly
Your PI asks for a progress update before the department meeting. Instead of spending 20 minutes crafting an email, hold and speak: 'Dr. Martinez, quick update: completed 23 of 40 participant sessions, preliminary data shows significance in condition B. Running into scheduling issues with the MRI facility — may need to extend timeline by one week. Happy to discuss at our Thursday meeting.' Professional email sent in 45 seconds. Back to actual research.
Recording experiment protocol deviations
The centrifuge made an unusual sound during sample processing. You need to document it for the lab notebook but can't stop the procedure. Hold your hotkey while monitoring the equipment: 'Run 47, 10:34 AM: centrifuge produced intermittent clicking during first 2 minutes of spin cycle. Continued to completion, no visible sample issues. Will inspect equipment before next run.' Documentation complete. Procedure uninterrupted.
Drafting IRB documentation efficiently
The IRB needs a protocol amendment explaining your new recruitment approach. You know exactly what to say — you just dread typing it in formal academic language. Hold and dictate: 'We are requesting approval to expand recruitment to include community college students aged 18-24, in addition to our current university population. This modification will increase sample diversity without altering study procedures or risks.' Amendment section drafted in 20 seconds. Hours saved on bureaucratic writing.
Taking participant notes between sessions
Participant 7 just left and participant 8 arrives in 10 minutes. You need to capture your observations while they're fresh. Hold your button: 'P7 completed all tasks without issue. Notably faster on spatial reasoning section than verbal — may indicate strong STEM background, check demographic form. Mentioned feeling tired, started yawning around minute 40. Consider shorter protocol or break for future sessions.' Notes documented before you forget. Ready for the next participant.
Summarizing research meetings
The lab meeting just ended and you're responsible for sending notes to the team. While the discussion is fresh, hold your hotkey and speak: 'Lab meeting summary, December 15th. Dr. Kim presented preliminary imaging results — frontal activation higher than expected in control group. Team agreed to add behavioral measure to next cohort. Sarah will handle IRB modification. Next meeting January 5th.' Meeting summary sent before you leave the room. No more reconstructing discussions from memory.
Why research assistants choose Blurt over built-in dictation
| Blurt | macOS Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | Single hotkey, instant start | Click microphone or use 'Hey Siri' |
| Speed | Text appears in under 500ms | 2-3 second delay before text appears |
| Academic terms | Handles methodology, statistical terms, citations | Frequently mangles technical vocabulary |
| Reliability | Consistent accuracy across sessions | Often fails silently or requires retry |
| Workflow fit | Hold to speak, release to insert — minimal disruption | Requires attention to start and stop |
Frequently Asked Questions
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