Voice to Text for Scientists
Your hands are busy with pipettes, samples, and equipment. Stopping to type lab notes means interrupting your experiment at critical moments. Blurt lets you dictate observations, methods, and findings while your hands stay where they belong. Hold a button, describe what you're seeing, release. Text appears in your lab notebook, manuscript draft, or grant proposal. No context switching. No lost observations. Just speak your science into existence.
The Typing Problem
Recording observations during time-sensitive experiments
The reaction is happening now. You need to document color changes, temperature readings, and timing with precision. But stopping to type means missing the next critical moment. You try to remember everything until you can write it down, but by then the details are fuzzy. Was it pale yellow or light amber? Did the change happen at 3 minutes or 4? Your notes become approximations instead of accurate records.
Writing grant proposals after a full day in the lab
NIH deadlines wait for no one. You've spent 10 hours running experiments, and now you need to write three pages of Specific Aims. Your brain is exhausted but the ideas are clear — you could explain your research plan in 20 minutes out loud. Instead, you stare at a blank Word document, typing one painful sentence at a time. The proposal takes all night when the content was ready hours ago.
Drafting methods sections with precise technical detail
The methods section needs exact concentrations, temperatures, centrifuge speeds, and timing. You know the protocol by heart — you've done it hundreds of times. But typing out 'samples were centrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 15 minutes at 4 degrees Celsius' over and over feels tedious. So you put off writing methods until the last minute, then rush through it and forget critical details.
Responding to peer reviewer comments at 2am
Reviewer 2 wants you to address 47 comments before the revision deadline. You know exactly how to respond to each criticism — the experiments are done, the data supports your conclusions. But typing detailed rebuttals to nitpicky comments when you're running on coffee and deadline pressure turns a 2-hour task into a 6-hour ordeal. Your fingers hurt and your patience is gone by comment 12.
Documenting experiments while wearing gloves
You're in the biosafety cabinet with double gloves, handling cells that can't wait. Something unexpected happens and you need to document it immediately. You can't type with gloves on without contaminating your keyboard. You can't take gloves off without breaking sterile technique. So you try to remember everything until later, and half the observations never make it into your notebook.
How It Works
Blurt works in every app scientists use — Word, Google Docs, Notion, electronic lab notebooks, reference managers, email. Anywhere you can put a cursor.
Hold your hotkey
Press your chosen shortcut. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening.
Dictate naturally
Describe your observations, methods, or findings. Blurt handles scientific terminology and punctuation.
Release and done
Text appears at your cursor. No copying, no pasting, no post-processing needed.
Real Scenarios
Recording lab notebook entries in real-time
You're running an electrophoresis gel and notice an unexpected band pattern. With gloves still on, you tap your hotkey and describe what you see: 'Lane 4 shows a secondary band at approximately 35 kilodaltons, not present in lanes 1 through 3. Possible degradation product or off-target cleavage.' The observation is captured the moment it happens, not reconstructed from memory an hour later. Your lab notebook finally reflects what actually occurred.
Drafting grant proposal sections
The R01 deadline is in two weeks. You open the Specific Aims document, hold your hotkey, and start talking through your research plan: 'Aim 1 will establish the causal relationship between protein X phosphorylation and downstream signaling using both genetic and pharmacological approaches.' In 30 minutes of dictation, you have 4 pages of rough draft. What usually takes an entire weekend is done before lunch.
Writing methods sections from memory
You've optimized this Western blot protocol over 6 months. Time to write it up. Instead of typing every detail, you talk through the procedure: 'Samples were lysed in RIPA buffer containing protease inhibitors at a 1 to 10 ratio of cell pellet to buffer volume, incubated on ice for 30 minutes with vortexing every 10 minutes.' The entire methods section flows out naturally because you're describing what you actually do.
Crafting responses to peer reviewer comments
Reviewer 2 claims your controls are inadequate. You know exactly why they're wrong. Hold the button and explain: 'We appreciate this concern. As shown in Supplementary Figure 3, we performed extensive control experiments including vehicle-only treatment, genetic knockout comparison, and dose-response analysis. We have added clarifying text to the Methods section and expanded the figure legend.' Diplomatic and thorough, dictated in 30 seconds instead of 10 minutes of frustrated typing.
Writing conference abstract drafts
The abstract deadline is tomorrow and you just got your final results. You open the submission form, hold your hotkey, and summarize six months of work: 'We demonstrate that inhibition of kinase X reverses disease phenotype in a mouse model of neurodegeneration. Treatment with our novel compound reduced pathology by 60 percent and improved behavioral outcomes.' First draft done in 5 minutes. Time for your PI to review and refine.
Documenting unexpected observations during experiments
Your cell cultures look different today. Before you forget or dismiss it, capture the observation: 'Passage 23 HeLa cells showing unusual morphology. Approximately 20 percent of cells appear elongated rather than typical epithelial cobblestone. No obvious contamination. Will photograph and monitor over next 48 hours.' These documented anomalies have led to some of science's biggest discoveries. Now you won't miss them.
Writing collaboration notes after lab meetings
The meeting just ended and your collaborator explained their new technique. Before you forget the details, dictate a summary: 'Dr. Chen's lab uses a modified CRISPR approach with truncated guide RNAs to improve specificity. They see 90 percent reduction in off-target effects. She offered to share the protocol and train our postdoc next month.' Meeting notes that are actually useful, captured while the conversation is fresh.
Why scientists choose Blurt over built-in dictation
| Blurt | macOS Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific vocabulary | Handles terminology like 'phosphorylation' and 'centrifuge' accurately | Frequently mangles scientific terms into nonsense |
| Activation method | Single hotkey, works even with gloves on touchpad | Requires clicking microphone icon or voice command |
| Speed | Text appears in under 500ms | 2-3 second delay interrupts documentation flow |
| Reliability | Consistent accuracy across long dictation sessions | Often stops listening mid-sentence or fails silently |
| Numbers and units | Correctly formats '37 degrees Celsius' and 'pH 7.4' | Inconsistent handling of scientific measurements |
Frequently Asked Questions
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