1a) Explain the use of voice recognition in embedded systems. Embedded systems are devices that contain a microprocessor controlling them Embedded systems are often controlled by dials or switches or buttons. These are used to give the system commands Instead of using the dials and switches or buttons it is possible to use voice commands to control these devices. This is particularly useful if an application needs to be “hands free”. Examples being sat nav systems or car phones b) 3 advantages Hands free applications Faster than entering commands by hand People with disabilities able to use these 3 disadvantages Accents….. Background noise …… Learn command words especially unusual commands

2a) Explain the use of handwriting recognition in portable devices. Many portable devices use handwriting recognition for data entry rather than the more traditional keyboard. This is mainly a size requirement as portable devices with a keyboard would be too large and cumbersome to be truly portable. The use write for example on the word processing app and the system recognised the characters and stores them digitally as it would a typed character b) 3 advantages No need for keyboard – keeps the device small Faster than typing for some people Can annotate diagrams if required using “pen” 3 disadvantages Poor / untidy handwriting may be difficult to recognise for the system Some character could be confused by the system e.g. 5S Il1 Writing onto a screen takes practice as it is not the same “feeling” as paper

3a) Explain the use of optical scanning in security systems. Optical scanning is being used increasingly for security purposes. It is used in situations such as security doors to enter buildings / passport (immigration) control e.g. to enter the USA your retina is scanned and stored. b) 2 advantages Absolutely secure – things such as retina scans are unique. No two people have the same Passwords etc. can be forgotten / or even worse misplaced and picked up by unauthorised people. 2 disadvantages The time to do the initial scans. This process can be quite slow The equipment cost is initially high. Usually because the situations it is used in are so important e.g. immigration. The equipment must be perfect

4) Where might OCR be useful and why OCR – Optical Character Recognition would be useful in a questionnaire situation It means that users put marks on a form corresponding to their answers The answers may then be scanned automatically into the computer system The benefits of this are: Speed of data enter is much faster that manual Cost is reduced as the process is automatic Human errors in data entry are reduced