irisen executive with lernout & hauspie speech products' text-to-speech

IEPER, Belgium/WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 1995-- Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products (Nasdaq:LHSPF) today announced that Image Recognition Integrated Systems (I.R.I.S.) is shipping an enhanced version of IRISPen(TM), the IRISPen Executive, a unique pen-shaped text reader which features Lernout & Hauspie's text-to-speech technology that expands the data input tool's functionality.

"Lernout & Hauspie is pleased that I.R.I.S. has had the vision and confidence in our technology to bolster the capabilities of the new IRISPen Executive using our text-to-speech technology," said Yacov Levy, chief executive officer of Lernout & Hauspie. "Integrating text-to-speech into the IRISPen enables the user to hear clear and natural words and numbers while scanning in information, be it from a document or a business card. This audible verification of data adds value to the data entry device."

the IRISPen. It offers text recognition for all Western, Eastern, Cyrillic (Russian) and Greek languages. The Executive version offers speech synthesis in up to six languages, and frees its user from having to look up from documents to verify scanned results on screen because they will be heard aloud. The text-to-speech component, activated with the touch of a button, can pronounce the recognized handwriting or text, and can be equipped with a customized speech library to suit the user's work purposes.

"As we developed and improved the data entry pen we listened to our customers and heard what they need to work more efficiently," said Dr. Pierre De Muelenaere, managing director and founder of I.R.I.S. "Text-to-speech provides an efficient proof reading technique and we feel this opens a world of multimedia applications. Lernout & Hauspie's technology has been easy to integrate into the IRISPen Executive using the L&H SDK (Software Developers Kit). The cooperation with L&H is natural since both our companies have a strong expertise in multi-lingual technologies."

IRISPen Executive 6

Iris USOA400 IRISPen Express 6 Pen Scanner

Ectaco C-Pen 20 Handheld Scanner

Best Pen Scanners

Pen Scanners Scanners Math Definitions Pen .Pen scanners have been around for some time now, but only recently have been gaining a wider popularity with technological improvements. Generally using one like a highlighter, the main idea is to scan printed text to
 store and upload to your computer. This is great for just about anybody, whether a student, business person, or simply for organizational use. Whether taking notes, scanning recipes, or saving something to read later on, almost anyone can find a use for a scanner pen and many will find it saves a lot of time.

IRISPen Express 6

The IRISPen Express 6 will take in just about any type of printed text and small graphics (like logos and signatures), to be transferred directly to your computer or stored in the device to upload later on. It scans at a quick rate of over three inches per second, recognizes 128 languages, and has a 100% accuracy rate with proper use. Even distorted and colored text and numbers, along with text on colorful backgrounds, will be picked up by this scanner pen. Special characters, mathematical and currency symbols are also recognized among others. Most font types and sizes (from 8 - 20 points) are also picked up. You can later use the USB port of any PC, notebook, PDA or Macintosh to upload stored data. At a price range of $100 - $130, this handheld scanner is hard to beat.

Planon DocuPen R700

The DocuPen R700 is one of the best handheld scanner pens for its price - around $160. It provides a very accurate scan through its optical registration technology and dual-roller guiding system, which makes it smooth and easy to scan text or images. To upload scanned data to any computer, you just plug it into the computers USB port - the batteries of the pen will also start to recharge through these means. The DocuPen R700 has an optical resolution of 200 dpi, and a max hardware resolution of 200 x 200 dpi.

Wizcom Quicklink

This scanner pen acts like a highlighter, letting you scan printed text, barcodes and small images, to then store them and later transfer them to any PC, notebook or PDA. This pen holds up to 1,000 pages of data, or
 when used via serial port, infrared or USB adapter, you can transfer the data straight into just about any Windows application. The Wizcom Quicklink also has a backlit LCD display and the optical resolution of 150 dpi. For an average price of $130, this handheld scanner makes a great choice.

Ectaco C-Pen Handheld Scanner

For around $140, you may scan text from just about anything - books, newspapers, magazines, etc. - to be quickly stored in this pen scanner and translated to a language of your choice. Using it like a highlighter, just sweep the pen across the text you want to scan, to have it stored for later use or transferred directly into almost any Windows program. The C-Pen also has a high accuracy - around 99% on text books and newspapers. You can't really get a much better recognition rate than that.

WizCom WSP1000P SuperPen Professional

The Wizcom SuperPen Professional is more than just a scanner, it can also provide the definition for over 250,000 words, using several electronic dictionaries and thesaurus from the Houghton Miffin Collection. Along with this nice feature, it can of course scan text, store data, and then transfer to a PC, PDA or straight to almost any Windows application through serial, infrared or USB. It even has a text-to-speech technology that helps you pronounce new words. All of these features and its reasonable price - about $140 - makes this an ideal scanner pen for college students and business executives alike.

InfoScan3 Lite

At $120, the InfoScan3 Lite is a decent scanner pen that scans, stores, and transfers text of several different languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German). It comes with an LCD touchscreen that lets you customize the device and shows you your stored data (up to 500 pages worth), of which you can then transfer to your PC, PDA, etc. through infrared or USB connection. You can even edit or add text while it's still stored in the pen, with the on-screen keyboard. This pen recognizes text from many different font types and sizes (6 - 22 points) and in different colors. It does not, however, recognize handwriting or math symbols.

WizCom Technologies WRPADV Advanced Readingpen

One of the more unique scanning pens on this list, the Wizcom Advanced Readingpen is more than just a scanner. It also holds over 500,000 entries of the American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary, and will speak, spell and
 recite the definitions of words scanned. It also comes with text-to-speech technology, and doesn't need any platform to work - you can use it entirely independently on the go. Its features make it easy to not only scan, store, and learn the definitions of words, but it is a great reading aid for those who are struggling with reading, ESL students, special needs students, or even fluent readers who simply want to quickly and easily improve their spelling, vocabulary and grammar. At a price range between $230 and $280 it's quite costly, but more than worth it for what it gives you.

Comparison of Digital Scan Digital Scanner Pens

• A digital scanner pen works like a highlighter in that you roll the front of the pen over the text that you need to scan. This scanner is similar to a flatbed scanner that scans books and bulky items, but it is designed for the mobile user, who needs to scan or send documents on the fly.

IRISPen

• This handheld pen scanner allows you to capture text and upload it to your computer and the software that comes with the program will even convert the scanned text to an editable document. This pen scanner resembles a highlighter, and it can read and convert sentences, numbers and words. You can also scan standard images in grayscale, and the program can read up to 128 different languages. Other features of the device include a setup wizard and the ability to set up three user profiles. It works on both Apple Mac and Windows Operating Systems, and it is also compatible with Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and Internet Explorer. As of 2010, this product costs $129.

DocuPen

• The Plan DocuPen looks like a standard ball point pen except that it allows you to scan documents and save them in digital form. It comes with a rechargeable battery and 64 Megabytes (MB) of Secure Digital (SD) Random Access Memory (RAM), which allows you to store scanned documents on your pen, and it also has a microSD card slot, providing you with extra memory. The DocuPen has an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) which displays information about your memory, battery, scan modes and date and time. You can upload documents to either a personal computer (PC) or a mobile device, including Windows Mobile and BlackBerry. As of 2010, this product starts at $79.99.

ECTACO

• ECTACO/C-Pen Handheld Scanner connects to your computer via a universal serial bus (USB) cord, and it allows you to scan data from books, documents and newspapers. The scanner can recognize up to 238 languages, including Croatian, Ukrainian, Greek and English. This device also works like a highlighter, allowing you to just roll across the data that you would like to capture. As of 2010, this product costs $199.95.

technology and transformation

• Digital pens are the high-tech version of their ink counterparts. Digital pens look very similar to ink pens, but they electronically record and transcribe writing instead of simply depositing ink onto paper. Some digital pens function as an ink pen as well, while others require a specialized writing surface. Digital pens offer the ability to easily transfer written text to computer files and are ideal for students, journalists or others who take a lot of notes.

Livescribe: Pulse Smart Pen

• The Livescribe Pulse Smart Pen provides standard ink and digital writing abilities, while also offering audio capture and playback. The pen captures digital notes through an infrared camera near the reservoir tip. The infrared camera relies on specialized dot matrix paper, which must be used when taking digital notes. Users can purchase reams of paper or print their own. Notes and audio are downloaded via USB, and can be then searched, shared and transformed into movies. The pen can be purchased at major retailers.

LogiPen

• The LogiPen offers digital pen technology, but unlike other digital pens it does not require the use of special paper. The LogiPen offers the functionality to take digital and ink notes, as well as offering the added ability to work as a tablet computer stylus. The pen is compatible with Windows XP and Vista, and is enabled to input digital writing directly into Microsoft Office programs. The pen is available online through LogiPen (see Resources).

Digital Scribe

• The Iogear Digital Scribe pen can produce both ink and digital notes written on any surface; special paper is not required. Once downloaded, notes are easily organized and searched. As an added benefit, the pen can also be used as a mouse. Digital Scribe is available through internet retailers such as Amazon and Newegg.

IrisPen

• The IrisPen is a hand-held pen that captures text via scanner and converts it using optical character recognition. The IrisPen captures pre-written text only and does not offer the ability to take ink notes. The pen is designed to recognize up to 125 different languages and is compatible with Windows and Mac. It is available through Internet retailers.