Podcast directory site Pluggd has joined a growing number of companies using speech-recognition technology to allow text searches within audio podcasts, by introducing a new search feature, HearHere.

“HearHere uses proprietary voice recognition software and search algorithms to create a superior solution for consumers,” said Pluggd CEO and co-Founder Alex Castro. “Our visual and intuitive interface takes you exactly where you want to go within a podcast.”

The HearHere feature lets the user type in a keyword representing a topic he or she is looking for and displays a ‘heat map’ within the media player that visually indicates where in the content the topic is discussed. HearHere lets people find where a conversation of interest starts instead of simply dropping them in the middle of the audiocast, and will identify related topics even if the keyword isn’t explicitly used in the content.