GRAIL: The 1960s System That Recognized Handwriting Better Than Modern Computers
Back to the Future of Handwriting Recognition
In 1966, RAND's GRAIL system let users draw boxes and handprint text on a tablet, with no mouse or keyboard. Gabriel Groner's recognition program, running on an IBM System/360, identified 90% of symbols from first-time users. This interactive essay revisits Groner's method, explaining the smoothing algorithm that removes quantization noise, and lets you try a virtual tablet.
This recognition scheme meets its primary objective of enabling any user to communicate naturally with a computer. A user is not distracted by any operational mechanics but, rather, may concentrate on [their] problem.