Machine stenography
The machine stenography is a shorthand in which a stenography machine (stenograph) is used as a writing instrument . Since - like playing a chord on a piano - several keys are pressed at the same time, it is also called a "chord typewriter" (see chord keyboard ).
use
The stenography machine is designed in such a way that two keys can be struck with one finger at a time. At least one syllable can be reproduced by pressing several keys at the same time . The letters that do not appear on the keypad are represented by letter combinations.
Most shorthand machines generate a shorthand, incomprehensible to the layman, a tapping strip that shows the combination of characters typed at the same time in one line. However, since 1886 there have also been shorthand machines that print out the phonetic value of the entered syllables instead of a shorthand. Although the result does not correspond to the correct spelling, it can also be read by laypeople with a little getting used to.
Since the advent of the personal computer, the typed content has been sent directly to the computer for transmission. The Italian parliament , which has been using stenography machines since 1880, patented a further development in 2003 that uses the MIDI standard to transfer data from keyboard to PC. With special software for text input, the data is directly translated into plain text ( CAT = computer-aided transcription , computer-aided transcription ). In Germany one speaks of the WORAC system (Word Accord System).
Areas of application
- Stenography machines are used in parliaments, for example, where speeches are transcribed directly. Machine stenography offers another special application, namely the subtitling of word broadcasts on television in real time , the so-called " live captioning ", so that the hearing impaired can follow live broadcasts .
- The computer-aided machine stenography is also used as a live transcription for the hearing impaired. Here, the computer stenographer as a handwriting interpreter simultaneously writes down the spoken word. So the hearing impaired can read along immediately and follow the event / conversation without loss of information.
Technical development
The first shorthand machine was probably invented as early as 1827 . In 1863 the Italian professor Antonio Michela-Zucco constructed a shorthand machine that printed on strips of paper and was used in the Italian parliament from December 1880. The machine used 20 keys and types, several of which had to be pressed down at the same time to produce a syllable . When the keys were released, the paper was shifted by the width of a character. The speeches appeared in a peculiar and simplified notation, but after some practice they were easy to read.
In the decades after 1880 many Stenographiermaschinen became the patent pending , which is also printed on strips of paper, so the American system Steno Typer by JF Hardy and the space used for holding congresses Stenodactyle the Frenchman Lafaurie.
The stenotelegraph invented in France around 1890 was intended to combine machine stenography with telegraphy . He was the first electromechanical stenographer.
Open source solutions with standard hardware
While the price for "professional" stenography machines together with the corresponding software is in the middle four-digit range, there are attempts to make the capabilities of machine stenography (300 words per minute) accessible to a wider group of users with standard hardware and free programs.
Individual evidence
Web links
Outline of the history of the early Stenographiermaschinen (English)