Anyone watching an American courtroom proceeding may occasionally notice a court reporter holding what looks like a padded mask over their mouth. The device can seem unusual, but it serves a highly practical purpose. It is called a stenomask, and it is used in a court-reporting technique known as voice writing.
What Is a Stenomask?
A stenomask is a specialized microphone enclosed inside a sound-dampening mask. It fits closely around the user’s mouth and is designed to capture the reporter’s speech while greatly reducing how much of that speech can be heard by other people nearby.
This is especially valuable in a courtroom, where a reporter needs to create an accurate record without interrupting attorneys, witnesses, or the judge.
The professional using the device is generally called a voice writer. Instead of recording proceedings by pressing combinations of keys on a traditional stenotype machine, the voice writer listens and immediately repeats what is being said into the stenomask.
When Was It Invented?
The technique dates to the early-to-mid 1940s and is generally credited to American court reporter Horace Webb. Historical accounts describe Webb experimenting with different materials while searching for a way to dictate proceedings without disturbing the courtroom.
That makes the basic idea roughly eight decades old. What has changed dramatically is the technology connected to it.
Early voice reporters relied on recorded or dictated material that subsequently had to be turned into a written transcript. Modern systems can connect a stenomask to a computer running speech-recognition and court-reporting software, allowing the reporter’s dictated words to be converted into text rapidly or even in real time.
How Does It Work?
During a proceeding, a trained voice writer listens carefully and repeats the spoken record into the mask. This can include questions, answers, objections, judicial instructions and identification of different speakers. Reporters may also verbally encode information needed for the written record, such as punctuation or relevant nonverbal events.
The mask performs two important jobs at once: its microphone captures the reporter’s voice clearly, while its sound-dampening construction prevents that dictation from disrupting the proceeding.
With contemporary systems, speech-recognition software converts the voice writer’s dictation into written text, which can then be reviewed and corrected as necessary.
Why Not Simply Record the Courtroom?
A common misconception is that the stenomask is merely an audio recorder. Voice writing is more involved than simply recording everyone in the room.
The trained reporter actively creates the record by identifying speakers and reproducing what occurs in a form suitable for transcription. This human involvement is particularly important in legal proceedings, where interruptions, specialized terminology and multiple speakers can complicate automated transcription.
An Old Idea Enhanced by Modern Technology
The stenomask demonstrates how an invention from the 1940s can remain relevant after being paired with modern technology.
Its basic principle has changed surprisingly little: allow a court reporter to dictate a verbatim record without disturbing the people around them. What once depended heavily on subsequent transcription can now be combined with sophisticated speech-recognition software to help produce courtroom transcripts much more quickly.
So when someone appears to be speaking quietly into a strange mask during a trial or deposition, they may actually be performing one of the proceeding’s most important jobs: preserving an accurate written record of what was said.