✳flâneur — a map of the web's best reading

GRAIL Text Recognizer

jackschaedler.github.io · 5,513 words · saved by 1 readers

Back to the Future of Hand riting Recognition An Active Essay Revisiting the GRAIL Handwriting Recognizer Jack Schaedler, 2016 Fifty years ago, RAND corporation developed the Graphical Input Language software system (GRAIL). In a RAND memorandum from 1966, the stated objective of GRAIL was to, “Investigate methods by which a user may deal directly, naturally, and easily with [their] problem.” Users communicated with GRAIL using a pen-like instrument and tablet. GRAIL had no mouse, no keyboard, no buttons, no joystick, and none of the other paraphernalia that we generally associate with modern computing. When the user wanted a box on the screen, they drew the box. When the user wanted text on the screen, they handprinted the text. When you watch a demo of the system today, it still feels elegant and magical. To steal a line from Tony Hoare, GRAIL is in many ways an improvement on nearly all of its successors. “This recognition scheme meets its primary objective of enabling any use

GRAIL Text Recognizer Back to the Future o f Hand riting Recognition An Active Essay Revisiting the GRAIL Handwriting Recognizer Jack Schaedler, 2016 F ifty years ago , RAND corporation developed the Graphical Input Language software system (GRAIL). In a RAND memorandum from 1966, the stated objective of GRAIL was to, “Investigate methods by which a user may deal directly, naturally, and easily with [their] problem.” Users communicated with GRAIL using a pen-like instrument and tablet. GRAIL had no mouse, no keyboard, no buttons, no joystick, and none of the other paraphernalia that we general

Explore this link on the map →

related reading