Pencept, Inc. was a company in the 1980s that developed and marketed
pen computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a digital pen or Stylus (computing), stylus and Graphics tablet, tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
Historically, pen computing (defined as a computer system employin ...
.
Pencept was noted primarily for the robustness (for the time) of the handwriting and gesture recognition algorithms, and for an emphasis on developing novel
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...
approaches for employing
gesture recognition
Gesture recognition is an area of research and development in computer science and language technology concerned with the recognition and interpretation of human gestures. A subdiscipline of computer vision, it employs mathematical algorithms to ...
and
handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition (HWR), also known as handwritten text recognition (HTR), is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwriting, handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens ...
that would work with existing applications hardware and software.
Pencept employed a proprietary technology for on-line character recognition, based on a functional attribute model of human reading. Thus, unlike many other recognition algorithms employed for
handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition (HWR), also known as handwritten text recognition (HTR), is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwriting, handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens ...
, the recognition was generally user-independent and did not involve training to a user's particular writing style.
Early products included the PenPad 200 handwriting-only
computer terminal
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display ...
that was a direct replacement for the VT-100 and other standard ANSI 3.62 terminals, but with a
digitizing tablet and electronic pen and no keyboard. With the advent of the IBM
personal computer
A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
, later products, such as the PenPad 320 focused particularly graphics and CAD/CAM applications for the DOS operating system, as well as for data entry and data editing applications.
The Pencept systems were featured in demonstrations at the 1983 and 1985 CHI conferences. A video showing parts of the 1985 demonstration at the CHI 85 conference is available from the Open-Video.org on-line collection.
See also
*
Pen computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a digital pen or Stylus (computing), stylus and Graphics tablet, tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
Historically, pen computing (defined as a computer system employin ...
*
Handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition (HWR), also known as handwritten text recognition (HTR), is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwriting, handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Annotated bibliography of references to handwriting recognition and pen computing
Notes on the History of Pen-based Computing (YouTube)
Computer companies established in 1980
Defunct computer companies of the United States
Defunct computer hardware companies
Defunct computer systems companies