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Show Telephone Experts Develop Machine to Read Handwriting An experimental device the size of a portable typewriter that can read handwritten numerals 'jidentify numerals as they are An written has been invented by Tom L. Dimond of Bell Telephone Tele-phone Laboratories System. The machine was demonstrated recently at the Eastern Joint Computer Conference in New York. With some modifications the equipment could be used to read handwritten letters, Mr. Dimond said. The machine may eventually become a valuable addition to many business offices. It could be important in situations where it is necessary to write and identify iden-tify large quantites of numerals. For examples, in the telephone business each long distance ticket tick-et contains 20 to 30 handwritten characters. Approximately two billion of these tickets are processed pro-cessed each year in the Bell System. Sys-tem. A technique for picking up the information on these tickets with a machine rather than the human eye would be a tremendous tremen-dous aid in preparing telephone bills. The new machine recognizes numbers and indicates the numeral num-eral by lighting up the correct digit on a numbered panel. To recognize written numerals, such as those on a long distance ticket it is necessary that they be written writ-ten with a pencil containing a conductive lead. Two dots, one above the other, are used as reference ref-erence points. Seven sensitized lines extend radially from these two dots. Numerals are recognized recog-nized by the machine, depending on which lines are crossed. As the information is recognized it could be transferred to an accounting ac-counting machine, computer or other data processing device. Several experimental models, have been built at Bell Laboratories. Labora-tories. Each is completely self-contained. self-contained. The device is operated from flashlight batteries and requires no outside power source. Its small size and low power con sumption is made possible by the use of transistors developed by the Bell Laboratories. |