Text recognition technologies have become a part of our lives a long time ago, and while some designers try to struggle with them by creating special typefaces that are challenging to recognize, others find new ways of their use. One of such persons is a London-based designer Fiona O’Leary who developed a prototype of a device that recognizes fonts and colors of the real world.
The device titled Spector is Fiona’s graduation project from the Royal College of Art. Its operation method is very simple – you only need to place the device over a scanned text and press the button on top. A camera inside Spector takes a photo, and a special algorithm then recognizes a typeface, its size, kerning and leading. You can transfer this information directly to a computer, or it can be stored on the device if there is no computer nearby. The device also has a color recognition mode that translates the real world colors to RGB, CMYK, or Pantone palette.
Nowadays, Spector can recognize only seven typefaces. However, we must take into account that this device currently exists as a prototype, and it is not available for purchase. According to Fiona O’Leary, she is working on expanding the font database, so maybe one day we will see this undoubtedly useful tool mass produced.