Handwriting Recognition

A computer’s capability to accept and interpret handwritten input that in intelligible and that may come from photographs, paper documents and touch screen and other devices, is known as handwriting recognition. Intelligent word recognition or optical character recognition (optical scanning) is used to read a written text’s image from a piece of paper. Subsequently, a pen tip’s movements may also be used to read a written text’s image.

One of the most popular handwriting recognition methods that are used on the market today is known as optical character recognition (OCR). A majority of scanning suites provide a form of optical character recognition, which enables users to have their handwritten documents scanned and interpreted into fundamental text documents. There are archivists that use optical character recognition as a way of translating large amounts of historical documents that are handwritten, into digital forms that are easy to access and searchable.

Online recognition, which is what the second form of the handwriting recognition techniques is referred to, has steadily gained popularity over the years. Apple created the Newton, a handheld device, in the 1990s, which utilized the handwriting recognition interface that was the first to be available to the public. The user of the Newton used a stylus to directly write on the screen, and then the letters they wrote were received and translated to text format. However, the Newton utilized software that was used to learn handwriting patterns of the user that didn’t function properly, and as such the Newton never became that popular.

Technological advancements of Handwriting Recognition

Some years later, a new handwriting recognition system was developed by Palm Computing, and was known as Graffiti. The Graffiti used its own system of line-strokes for identifying each letter, rather than making use of the customary Roman alphabet. Because of this, the success was higher in learning the variations of the user and in indentifying letters.

The Tablet PCs that are designed by Microsoft also feature a handwriting recognition system. This Tablet PC uses a large database of character variations instead of making an attempt to learn the variations of the user. This particular handwriting recognition system seemed to be more successful than its precursors; however, it also has an outset to its dependability.

Because of the growing popularity of cell phones and PDAs that make use of a stylus, handwriting recognition software has once again picked up speed. The software that was once something that many persons overlooked is now quickly becoming software that business persons can earn millions of dollars from; and as such, many companies have now started to invest in handwriting recognition.

There are quite a few problems that prevent designers from creating the perfect handwriting recognition system; however, new developments have shown that is shall not be far from now that this dream will become a reality.