Parascript is a Boulder-based image analysis and pattern recognition company whose main mission is extracting meaningful information from images.
Common applications of its technology include address recognition for postal automation, fraud detection using signature verification and check recognition for financial services.
Jeffrey Gilb, Parascript’s chief executive officer, spoke with the Camera about his company, its contributions to technology and society, and its future.
1. How has data recognition advanced over the years to get where it is today?
Our company is unique in that we will take on business relationships that are win-win for our customers and put the risk of performance back on us. We are paid, but we partner with our customers. We have pushed the performance envelope because we are often paid for the benefit of our products and services can deliver. The converse is also true. If we aren’t successful, we’re not paid; which is different than some of our colleagues in the industry.
2. Are there any projects in the works to have other industries or companies start using Parascript’s data recognition technology?
Yes. Traditionally our business has been around the recognition of handwriting. That very same technology has been adapted and developed for the recognition detection of breast cancer: mammography. We are quite encouraged that this new business is going to be quite an evolutionary step in our company’s legacy.
3. Is there a way to make Parascript’s data recognition technology practical to the average consumer in their household?
With the advent of various tablet-type PCs as an example, where there is a stylus interface, we can verify signatures or recognize what’s being written. Every time a piece of mail gets sorted, we’re the ones that read the addresses. Just about every check in this country uses our technology to read it to find out how much the amount is.
4. What would the world look like without Parascript’s data recognition?
Things like the delivery of mail and signature verification, which we’ve come to rely upon, would be much more costly. Our technology removes the need to have people spend hours of unnecessary data entry time. With the mammograms, certainly it will be financially beneficial for us but we believe it will deliver a higher social good. When the screening is done, there are a lot of false positives. The rate of false positives is very high and this creates an added cost both financially and emotionally.
5. If Intelligent Recognition is the final frontier of text recognition, what’s next for Parascript?
The most near-term goal is the medical imaging initiative. There are many ways in which mammography medical images are being captured these days and we plan to be able to apply our technology to all of them. We feel well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity. We go where the images are.
