HC Deb 18 March 1968 vol 761 c2W
34. Mr. Ian Lloyd

asked the Minister of Technology whether he will make a statement on the progress of work on optical character recognition for computer input directed or sponsored by his Department.

Dr. Bray

Work at two firms is being supported by the Ministry under the Advanced Computer Technology Project. At Plessey a single font reader, based on research done at the National Physical Laboratory has been successfully demonstrated and will be in production by the end of this year. A multi-font reader is being developed in collaboration with the N.P.L. Mullard Limited hope to demonstrate the feasibility of reading hand-printed characters within twelve months.