Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package
Graffiti was a single-stroke shorthand handwriting recognition system developed by Jeff Hawkins (Palm Computing).
By using a simpler alphabet, lower-powered handheld devices could easily recognize handwriting. Hawkins believed that people would take the time to learn Graffiti just as people learned to touch-type. Hawkins recalled his insight: “And then it came to me in a flash. Touch-typing is a skill you learn.”
(Source: Wikipedia)
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Artifact Details
Graffiti for Zoomer
Palm Computing, Inc.
United States
English
1994
Original package with complete contents.
3.5" DOS diskette, Graffiti User's Guide, Graffiti reference card, card holder, reference card installation, 5.25" disk request form, and registration card.
5.75" x 7" x 1"
P1007
e5994b13bbf21af9
1994
Acquired from developer
2020-07-14
Organizations
People
Associated Products
Original Press Release
Palm Computing delivers major advance in handwriting recognition technology
Sept. 19, 1994 -- Palm Computing Monday announced Graffiti power writing technology, a new method of entering text into handheld computers with a pen.
Graffiti will support all major pen-based computing platforms including Apple's Newton, General Magic's Magic Cap, GEOS from Geoworks, Microsoft Windows for Pen Computing, Microsoft Winpad and PenRight! Current shipping Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) which will take advantage of Graffiti add-on software include the Apple Newton MessagePad, AST Gridpad 2390, Casio Z-7000, Sharp Expert Pad PI-7000 and Tandy Z-PDA Zoomer.
Graffiti represents a major advance in handwriting recognition technology by delivering instant and accurate recognition.
Graffiti works with a simplified version of the existing alphabet. The user enters pre-defined strokes for each letter, Graffiti then translates that stroke into the corresponding text character on the computer screen. Testing has revealed that most users can learn to enter these strokes fast enough to achieve more than 30 words per minute with 100% accuracy.
Because Graffiti works with a basic modification of the existing alphabet, most users become competent with Graffiti in less than 20 minutes.
Graffiti is being supported as an optional text entry method by a wide range of handheld computing developers including: Apple Computer, Casio Corp., Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Sharp Electronics and Tandy Corp.
"Palm Computing's introduction of Graffiti marks an important milestone in the development of the mobile communications market," said Rhonda Dirvin, director PDA marketing, Motorola Personal Portable Systems. "Motorola is excited about the reliability and flexibility of this new handwriting recognition and believes Graffiti will be a key enabling technology for a variety of handheld communications devices."
High Speed and Accuracy Reduces User Frustration
By increasing the uniqueness of each character, Palm has developed a system which is highly accurate, therefore addressing the major frustration of current handheld computer users: predictability. If the correct strokes representing a letter in the alphabet are entered, users will achieve 100% recognition accuracy.
Graffiti's efficient pattern recognition algorithm combined with the simplified alphabet provide almost instant character recognition on all supported systems. This results in an immediate response for the user.
Each time the user writes a stroke, the electronic ink is instantly translated into a text character. The user gains control by immediately verifying the information, which provides the opportunity to instantly correct mistakes. The sensation of using Graffiti is very similar to typing on a keyboard. When the user hits a key (strokes a character) a letter appears on the screen.
Graffiti Allows Users to Write Almost Any Character
Graffiti covers many characters which are impossible to achieve with current recognition technology including accented characters, punctuation and symbols. Capitalization, punctuation, numbers and symbols are handled similarly to a keyboard. When the user wants to input a capital letter in Graffiti, they "shift" Graffiti into uppercase through a simple upstroke.
The letter following the upstroke is then capitalized. Graffiti has shifts for caps lock and numbers, enabling users to enter strokes similar to the actual characters of the Roman alphabet without confusing a "1" and an "I", or a "5" and an "S". These strokes are never confused by the Graffiti system.
"We've been very impressed with the completeness of the Graffiti system," said Richard C. Watts, vice president and general manager of Hewlett Packard's Personal Information Products Group. "Graffiti provides easy access to accented characters, symbols and punctuation which are difficult to achieve with standard recognition systems."
Graffiti Enables Future Generation of Pocket Sized Devices
Because Graffiti provides an immediate response to each stroke of the pen, user do not need to write out words or sentences, but rather can write one character on top of another. By not looking at the screen, the Graffiti user can concentrate on the speaker or the document they are transcribing. Further, since the user can write in a small area on the screen, wide acceptance of Graffiti may result in the development of smaller devices with smaller screens for entering data.
"Graffiti is a significant technology breakthrough which enables development of pocket-sized devices with robust data input capabilities," said Doug Brackbill, vice president, Mtel Advanced Applications Group. "We think Graffiti will spur the growth of new markets for wireless messaging."
Through the use of Graffiti's ShortCuts, large blocks of text can be entered into the system with a few pen strokes. With ShortCuts a user can build a library of frequently used phrases, and easily recall any of them with a few strokes of the pen. For instance, the user may create a thank you note which they often fax to customers. By inputting the ShortCuts "shift" stroke and, for example, "th" for thank you, Graffiti will recall the entire predefined block of text.
Graffiti User Testing Shows High Level of Satisfaction
Palm Computing conducted extensive user testing with Newton and Zoomer owners, as well as non-PDA users. Ninety five percent of test subjects who owned a Newton or Zoomer wanted Graffiti after testing. Ninety seven percent of the Graffiti alphabetical characters were recalled by users after a week of non-use. Several device manufacturers have conducted their own user testing and found similar results.
"Our Graffiti user testing has been overwhelmingly positive," said Ed Colligan, vice president marketing for Palm Computing. "Nearly all users tested learned the system in under 20 minutes and became proficient in less than 2 hours. Most users showed an extremely high level of satisfaction. These results lead us to believe that Graffiti will become a major method of data entry for pocket-sized computers."
Graffiti is based on Palm's patented recognition algorithms. Palm has other patents pending on broad elements of Graffiti's unique functionality.
Product, Pricing and Availability
Graffiti includes the core recognition software which users download to their handheld device, and an online tutorial and help system. A trial copy of Graffiti is available directly from Palm Computing by calling 800/881-PALM or through America Online, Compuserve or the Internet. Graffiti is priced at $79 and is immediately available for the GEOS and Magic Cap platforms by calling 800/881-PALM.
Graffiti for Newton will be available Q4 1994 direct from Palm Computing and wherever Newtons are sold. Graffiti for PenRight! is available to potential vertical customers for evaluation. Graffiti for Windows for Pen Computing and Winpad are under development and slated for release next year.
Palm Computing is the leading independent provider of application software for consumer focused handheld computers. Headquartered in Los Altos, its products include personal information management applications, desktop to handheld computer connectivity software, PalmPrint handwriting recognizer and Graffiti power writing technology.
CONTACT:
Palm Computing Inc., Los Altos
Ed Colligan, 415/949-9742
Cathy Cain, 415/949-9874
Graffiti Gestures
(Source: Wikipedia)
History
The Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package presents Palm Computing, Inc.'s Graffiti power writing software in an edition for the Zoomer, sold under the slogan "Recognition that works."1 A single install diskette covered three handheld devices — the Casio Z-7000, the Tandy Z-PDA Zoomer, and the AST GRiDPad 2390.2 The software was copyrighted 1994 by Palm Computing, Inc.3
Palm Computing had been bound up with the Zoomer from the start. Company founder Jeff Hawkins, who started Palm Computing in 1992 after serving as vice president of research at GRiD Systems Corp., initiated the collaboration among Casio, Tandy, and Geoworks that produced the Zoomer PDA.4 When Casio and Tandy introduced the Zoomer at the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1993, the device shipped with Palm Computing's PalmPrint handwriting recognizer in ROM, alongside the company's newly announced PowerInk technology, which let users enter and manipulate electronic ink interchangeably with recognized text.5 The Zoomer itself ran Geoworks' GEOS operating system.6
Even as the Zoomer reached the market, Hawkins was openly skeptical of handwriting recognition. In a September 1993 speech titled "Will Handwriting Recognition Ever Work?" at the Agenda '94 conference, he argued that the pen made a poor instrument for handwriting and urged PDA developers not to lean on the technology, while hinting that new input methods allowing fast, accurate text entry without recognition would appear the following year.4
Palm Computing announced Graffiti on September 19, 1994, calling it a major advance in handwriting recognition.7 In place of cursive interpretation, Graffiti used a simplified alphabet of single pre-defined strokes; the company reported that most users learned the system in under twenty minutes and could then enter text at more than thirty words per minute with full accuracy.7 The shipping PDAs able to use the Graffiti add-on included the Tandy Z-PDA Zoomer and the Casio Z-7000, and in Palm's user testing ninety-five percent of Newton and Zoomer owners said they wanted Graffiti after trying it.7 Priced at $79, Graffiti was immediately available for the GEOS platform that the Zoomer ran, ordered directly from Palm Computing.7
As packaged for the Zoomer, Graffiti shipped on a single 3.5-inch diskette together with a Graffiti Reference Card and a User's Guide, with other diskette sizes available on request.8 Installation ran from a personal computer: the guide called for an MS-DOS 3.3 system with 640K of memory, a 3.5-inch drive, and a serial null-modem cable — a PalmConnect cable, a Casio MA-90, or Radio Shack part #25-1031.8 Following the on-disk instructions, the user typed A:INSTALL from MS-DOS to load Graffiti onto the handheld.2 The package directed buyers to Palm Computing, Inc. at 4410 El Camino Real in Los Altos, California, reachable at 800/881-PALM.9
AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes
Footnotes
- Palm Computing, Inc., Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package (box front, image scan), 1994
- Palm Computing, Inc., Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package (install diskette, image scan), 1994
- Palm Computing, Inc., Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package (User's Guide copyright page, image scan), 1994
- Palm Computing, Palm Computing Executive Discusses Handwriting Recognition Technology at Industry Gathering, September 24, 1993
- Palm Computing, Palm Computing Introduces PowerInk Technology for PDAs, June 3, 1993
- Palm Computing, Palm Computing Brings PC and Macintosh Connectivity to Zoomer PDAs, September 27, 1993
- Palm Computing, Palm Computing Delivers Major Advance in Handwriting Recognition Technology, September 19, 1994
- Palm Computing, Inc., Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package (User's Guide, installation page, image scan), 1994
- Palm Computing, Inc., Palm Graffiti (for Zoomer) Package (User's Guide, contact page, image scan), 1994
Oral History
Media
Jeff Hawkins – Genesis of Palm Computing
Hawkins talks about his life, his education and work experience. He started his career at Intel for 3 years and then moved to a start-up that he did not start. While working at the latter he created his first product – first pen-based computer. (Source: YouTube)
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