I.R.I.S. IRISPen Express Text Recognition Pen Scanner

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Judie Hughes

November 22, 2005

There have been so many times that I have needed to transpose written text from a document in hand to a document on my computer. When it is an entire document, such as a lease on which I am changing terms before returning, I'll generally scan the entire document into Word using my desktop scanner/printer combo and edit from within the document itself. But when it is only a couple of sentences or a few random phrases which need to be transferred from hard copy to my desktop, I will generally just enter them via keyboard because it is a pain to scan an entire document to extract what might amount to just a few lines worth of text. I am not exactly a touch typist - six fingers are more my speed - so anything that will make my time at the keyboard easier is a welcome addition to the gadget bin.

When I was offered the chance to review the IRISPen Express Text Recognition Pen Scanner, I thought it might be interesting to see if using such a device would be that much more convenient than just biting the bullet and entering the text myself. According to the manual which accompanied the IRISPen, when the pen is slid over a line of text, the text "is entered into your application instantly, as if keyed in but up to 30 times faster. Up to a 100 characters can be entered per second. Cut from paper, paste to Windows: can you imagine a simpler way of entering text?"

And that quote? Yah...I scanned it directly from the manual into the FrontPage document I am using to write this review. However, what you see above was edited a bit from what was actually copied. How much did I have to edit to get the final result? We'll get into that further into the review. For now, let's take a look at the IRISPen itself.

The IRISPen Express is one of four different versions offered by I.R.I.S., and it is designated as the version for home users. Also available are versions for executives, Asian executives and those involved in banking or similar industries. The specific features of each version are slightly different, therefore in this review I will be focusing solely on the Express and its capabilities.

Included in the box are the IRISPen with its USB tether cable, the CD with necessary desktop software, PC & Mac quick start guides and a user manual.

The IRISPen measures approximately 5" long x 1.5" wide x 1" thick and weighs 3.1 ounces including its cable. The head of the "pen" includes a roller which operates as a "start switch", which turns on when rolled across paper, and turn off when it is lifted. Above the roller ( to its left in this picture) is the scanner view window, which emits a green beam when the scanner is activated. The ridge in the middle of the scanner window is the line guide, and according to the manual, "the IRISPen recognizes the text line closest to the line guide." Yes, I scanned that, too - no editing necessary.

The button on the side of the IRISPen is user programmable, which means it can be set to perform one of  eleven functions with a single click, and a second with a double click. I have mine set to the default functions, which are <Enter> with a single click and <Tab> with a double.

The forward button on the pen is also user programmable, and once again I have left it at the default settings, which are <Space> with one click and <Cursor Left> with a double click. The sliding button to the rear is a mystery - I could not find any reference to it in the manual and it did not appear to do anything to the input or output that I could discern. Since all of the manual's pictures of the pen in use show it positioned toward the rear of the pen, that is where I kept it while doing actual testing.

 

This is the software screen from which the buttons are assigned:

The back side of the IRISPen has no buttons or features - just a hole in which a structural screw has been placed. There are almost seven feet of USB cable running from the rear of the scanning pen, so there should be enough even if the computer's USB ports are located under the user's desk. For convenience, the IRISPen will work properly from a hub.

The IRISPen is fatter than a typical pen, but overall it fit in my hand quite comfortably.

Setup is accomplished by installing the accompanying CD, which must be done before plugging the IRISPen into the USB port. During install, the following window will pop up...

...just hit Continue Anyway and install the software. At this time, the IRISPen may be plugged into an empty USB port, and the Hardware Wizard will run. Leaving the CD in the bin, hit "Next".

Once the Hardware Wizard has run, everything will be set up and ready to go. The following icon is installed on the desktop...

...which when pressed causes the following window to appear.

Calibration simply involves pressing the IRISPen to a blank piece of white paper and pressing it down. An incremental bar will show as progress occurs, and once 100% is reached, the device is calibrated and ready to operate.

When the IRISPen program is on, a moveable toolbar will appear on the PC's screen which displays the current mode of the pen. Double-clicking on the menu will pull up the scanner's menu.

In order to use the IRISPen properly, you must practice! After calibration, a scan test should be performed in which the user runs the pen over the words in a steady rate. I kept the line I was scanning lined up with the line guide and the IRISPen was set to Alphanumeric and English.

According to my test scan, I seem to have the hang of this. Now it's time to try entering text into my document. To use, the IRISPen must be held like a pencil, but almost vertically. According to the Quick Start Guide, it is best to "hold the pen almost vertically. of less than 5 for scanning." Hmmm...that didn't scan very well. It should have said, "hold the pen almost vertically. angle of less than 5 preferred for and scanning." Nope...that's not it, either.

In case you didn't catch it, I was trying to scan the wording under the exclamation point in the picture above. One last try - "hold the pen almost vertically. angle of less than 5 is preferred for .nd scanning."

All right...I don't think the IRISPen likes red ink so much. Anyway!

The scanning alignment is set on this screen, which allows the choice of where scanning will or won't stop on a particular line of text.

Since I am scanning directly into this review, I selected Application - mode 1. Clipboard is for scanning items which need to be saved - such as small images or signature files.

...which removes scanned text from the clipboard...

...and allows it to be saved as a bitmap file, like this.

However, for typing directly into a document like I am doing for this review, the Output Target "Application - mode 1" should be selected. Using just the slightest angle from a complete vertical, I scanned items from the included practice sheet in as straight a row as possible in a slow and steady swipe.

1. What I am scanning: Big bold letters at the top of a page.

What I got: 

Learn how to write again with your 

Second Try:

T Jearn how to write a~ain with vour IRISPen!

Third Try:

Learn now to Wrlle agalll Willi yuur .lKl~ren!

Fourth Try:

Learn hOW to write agaIn with your IRISPen!

Fifth Try:

Learn how to write again with your IRISPen!

Conclusion: Multiple tries, but I eventually got it.

2. What I am scanning: This will be a little bit trickier, as this sentence is parsed like a short paragraph which will take several scans to correctly enter. In order to show each line as it was originally printed, I will start each scan on a new line. However, had I wanted to, the scans would have followed each other on the same line.

What I got:

fhe IRISPen is a unique hand-held OCR developed by I.R.I.S.; to date, it is both the USB based and the only greyscale pen

Conclusion: Not bad! Only the first letter was messed up - which should be simple to correct. I decided to set the pen to accept "All characters" in output menu, hoping that would correct the problem.

3. What I am scanning: A Bold heading with italics following.

What I got:

Typefaces

rhe IRISPen being an omnifont recognition system, you

an read virtually any font. Here are some examples:

Conclusion: Even with the IRISPen set to scan "All characters", it still seems to be dropping or mangling the first letters in a series. It is also dropping the letter formatting, but that was to be expected. I was impressed that it was able to read the formatted letters, though.

4. What I am scanning: Another paragraph style sentence which will require multiple passes to enter. However, there is another sentence above it which may also be picked up by the scanner.

What I got:

But which typefaces, typestyles, type sizes and

pedal characters can the IRISPen read?

Second Try:

ut which typefaces, typestyles, type sizes and

special characters can the IRISPen read?

Third Try:

ut which typefaces, typestyles, type sizes and

specIal characters can the IRISPen read?

Fourth Try:

But which typefaces, typestyles, type sizes and

special characters can the IRISPen read?

Conclusion: Still dropping first letters at times, and it sometimes takes multiple passes to get a sentence to appear correctly.

5. What I am scanning: A tricky paragraph style which will require multiple passes as well as correct reading of special symbols and punctuation.

What I got:

Die deutsche Sprache hat Symbole wie 0, a, B und A.  (<-- picking up words from the line above the one I am trying to scan!)

lut let's not forget that the IRISPen I (<--correct line now...)

lso recognizes reading marks (- ; : ' " 

and "special" symbols such as *, &,

, +, -, #, $, £ and ¥.

Second Try:

llso recogni zes reading marks (- ; : ' " (<-- read the wrong line)

But let's not forget that the IRISPen

also recognizes reading marks (- ; : I"    ;

ilso recogni zes reading marks (- ; ~ I 11 (<-- read the wrong line)

l) and "special" symbols such as * I &,    

§, +, -, #, $, £ and ¥.

Third Try:

But let's not forget that the IRISPen    "

But let's not forget that the IRISPen    . But let's not forget that the IRISPen ) !) and "special" symbols such as  (<--I could not get it to pick up the correct second line)

? !) and "special" symbols such as *, &,

§, +, -, #, $, £ and ¥.

Fourth Try:

Butt let's not forget that the IRISPen   

Iso recognizes reading marks (- . . , "

? !) and "special" symbols such as *, &,    I

;, +, -, #, $, £ and ¥.

Fifth Try:

It let's not forget that the IRISPen   

ttlso recogni zes reading marks (_ . . '"    I

? !) and "special" symbols such as *, &,    _'"

, +, -, #, $, £ and ¥.

Conclusion: Feh. Multiple tries and some were better than others - but none were exactly right and it took a lot longer to do than I would have liked. Honestly, it got to be pretty frustrating.

6. What I am scanning: The IRISPen is programmed to be able to recognize up to 55 languages, including Afrikaans, Albanian, American English, Basque, Brazilian, Breton, British English, Bulgarian, Byelorussian, Catalan, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Frisian, Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish (Gaelic), Italian, Lithuanian, Luxemburgh, Macedonian, Malay, Mexican, Norwegian, Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scottish (Gaelic), Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian - English, Byelorussian - English, Greek - English, Macedonian - English, Russian - English, Serbian - English, Ukrainian - English, Numeric. This time I decided to change the language to French, and see how I did scanning the exotic letters.

What I got:

Les français aiment le é, à, î et E.

Conclusion: Why did I have better luck scanning French than I did English? Near flawless

 

So what do I think of the IRISPen, will it be my new text entry system when I am trying to move small chunks of written text to my computer? Probably not. The reason being that for what this gadget cost, for the amount of times I had to rescan items to get them to show up correctly, and for the amount of aggravation caused when I thought I had done a flawless scan only to have gibberish returned...I probably would do better just to continue manually typing when I have small amounts of information to transpose.

IRISPen manuals may be downloaded here.