Kindle Touch understands handwriting

[Daithi]

MSNBC has an article about a company that is basically selling a Sudoku ebook game, but the cool thing is that it recognizes numbers that you enter by drawing them with your finger. It works on the Kindle Touch, and the article mentions that the software also recognizes letters drawn with your finger as well.

Unfortunately, I don't own a Kindle Touch, and it isn't mentioned if the software works with the Kindle Fire. Pretty cool though if a small start-up can put together an interface that Amazon probably hadn't even contemplated.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Daithi

MSNBC has an article about a company that is basically selling a Sudoku ebook game, but the cool thing is that it recognizes numbers that you enter by drawing them with your finger. It works on the Kindle Touch, and the article mentions that the software also recognizes letters drawn with your finger as well.

Unfortunately, I don't own a Kindle Touch, and it isn't mentioned if the software works with the Kindle Fire. Pretty cool though if a small start-up can put together an interface that Amazon probably hadn't even contemplated.

Probably this isn't what I am looking for, but I have been waiting a long time for a program that would recognize my cursive handwriting with a finger or a stylus and convert it to digital text. I would be willing to put out the bucks for that!

[Papi]

Originally Posted by frahse

Probably this isn't what I am looking for, but I have been waiting a long time for a program that would recognize my cursive handwriting with a finger or a stylus and convert it to digital text. I would be willing to put out the bucks for that!

Do you mean on an EInk device ? Otherwise consider the Samsung Galaxy Note, it has Wacom + stylus + handwriting recognition...

[AlexGrama]

That would be great but what about the accuracy concerning those with "doctor's handwriting" ?

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by frahse

Probably this isn't what I am looking for, but I have been waiting a long time for a program that would recognize my cursive handwriting with a finger or a stylus and convert it to digital text. I would be willing to put out the bucks for that!

Android Device - Look for DioPen. It's a keyboard replacement with handwriting recognition.

iDevice - look for WritePad by Phatware. Note taking app with handwriting recognition.

Both work well, but you have to use them long enough to "train" them, otherwise you're just wasting your money.

[jehane]

Handwriting recognition has been around a while, and from what I've read it will be available soon with the Windows 8 tablets. Considering that Windows had pretty decent HWR more than a decade ago, I'm looking forward to it. A cousin of mine had a Windows tablet with HWR a decade or so ago, and it worked really well. The only reason I didn't get one was because they cost $3000 and I didn't have that kind of money to spend in those days.

I used to have a Palm and loved it, although Graffiti was never a true HWR interface. I'm currently using a Nokia 5800 phone which I chose specifically for the HWR feature - it's very good.

None of these are e-ink of course.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by frahse

Probably this isn't what I am looking for, but I have been waiting a long time for a program that would recognize my cursive handwriting with a finger or a stylus and convert it to digital text. I would be willing to put out the bucks for that!

IRIS has a pen named IRISNotes: http://www.irislink.com/c2-1626-189/...ou-write-.aspx

Still not quite the same thing but...

[frahse]

Thank all of you for your input. I also did a quick look at Wikipedia.

I remember well the PDAs and their pen inputs.
I also have a Watcom pad that I bought some years ago to try some drawing on.

The problem is these methods, the machines, and the software, all have problems rendering regular cursive handwriting into digital text.
Sure individual letters or printing will work, and you can train the machine (software) but nothing yet where you can just write notes on a card in cursive, or for that matter, real fast which means it is kind of sloppy, printing and then run the card through a scanner, and produce neat digital output.

You can do better with speaking into a HTC text to message converter or I guess the new Siri converter. It is a problem though taking notes by speaking into a recorder in public or in a place where there is a lot of noise or you might bother people.

Still I keep a watchful eye out, and probably will try some of the newest products soon.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by AlexGrama

That would be great but what about the accuracy concerning those with "doctor's handwriting" ?

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/handwriting

This holds true for me. I doubt that I'd have much luck being able to complete a puzzle based on handwriting. I tried on the Nintendo DS and it was an exercise in futility. And that was with a stylus.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by frahse

Thank all of you for your input. I also did a quick look at Wikipedia.

I remember well the PDAs and their pen inputs.
I also have a Watcom pad that I bought some years ago to try some drawing on.

The problem is these methods, the machines, and the software, all have problems rendering regular cursive handwriting into digital text.
Sure individual letters or printing will work, and you can train the machine (software) but nothing yet where you can just write notes on a card in cursive, or for that matter, real fast which means it is kind of sloppy, printing and then run the card through a scanner, and produce neat digital output.

You can do better with speaking into a HTC text to message converter or I guess the new Siri converter. It is a problem though taking notes by speaking into a recorder in public or in a place where there is a lot of noise or you might bother people.

Still I keep a watchful eye out, and probably will try some of the newest products soon.

Diopen does a reasonable job on my cursive (cursed?) writing, especially now that predictive text is available, but still required a fair amount of training. I still prefer Graffiti (also available for andriod) simply because I got very proficient at it in the Palm days and because it forced me to be neater.

The post-writing recognition you talked about does exist. It is built into Google Docs and Evernote I believe, and recognition is done by their servers AFAIK. I haven't used either, they are not of use to me. I do know that the best post-writing recognition is done by saving the pen strokes as paths rather than bitmaps so look for a product that saves as vector PDF or SVG rather than JPG.

Dictation solutions require a constant connection, which is a nogo for me (wifi only tablets, not gonna pay for a data plan for my phone). If anyone knows of a record-now-process-later solution (other than hiring a stenographer ), let me know.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by 5thWiggle

Diopen does a reasonable job on my cursive (cursed?) writing, especially now that predictive text is available, but still required a fair amount of training. I still prefer Graffiti (also available for andriod) simply because I got very proficient at it in the Palm days and because it forced me to be neater.

The post-writing recognition you talked about does exist. It is built into Google Docs and Evernote I believe, and recognition is done by their servers AFAIK. I haven't used either, they are not of use to me. I do know that the best post-writing recognition is done by saving the pen strokes as paths rather than bitmaps so look for a product that saves as vector PDF or SVG rather than JPG.

Dictation solutions require a constant connection, which is a nogo for me (wifi only tablets, not gonna pay for a data plan for my phone). If anyone knows of a record-now-process-later solution (other than hiring a stenographer ), let me know.

Thanks for a very informative post. Some of this I was not aware of. I am just now catching up with my technical work after a 2 week vacation and nearly a month of working on business details, contracts, plans and projects, personnel and all the garbage that it takes to be a partner in a small company.
I much prefer the technical work and my personal writing to executive work, but it seems that it is necessary to keep going in this economy. I keep analyzing my financial input stream versus obligations and it keeps coming back with flags saying "Keep your stressful day job!"

Anyway, I am now getting back to at least planning writing projects. An hour ago, while I was in the lavatory I was writing a new idea down, in outline form, for an a SciFi adventure on one of those frontier worlds we all love so. I was using 4x6" cards placed on the back of a pamphlet. It would really be great to be able to later just scan that in and have digital text pop out that could be printed, saved and backed up all in searchable, retrievable form.

I am very familiar with Canada having worked on projects there and having relatives there. I too am sporting what some would call a goatee but I don't personally use that term because I don't think it really adheres to the standard goatee forms that come up with a Google search, so I don't disparage your location or appearance.