Integrating Paper and Digital Documents

This chapter outlines two very different approaches to using physical paper documents as natural input devices to computers. The DigitalDesk is a computer-enhanced desk that uses a video camera to detect and recognize paper documents, while Xerox’s “Intelligent Paper” is specially produced paper containing invisible marks that uniquely identify each sheet. Both allow the visible contents of the paper to be matched to a corresponding digital document. This, in turn, allows natural actions, such as pointing to an item on a page, to be used to initiate computer actions. The overall effect is to blur the conventional distinction between paper and digital documents.