4 HN users recommended this documentary3 months2022–2026score 3
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Recommended in address and OCR threads as a look at the last human mail-coding operation.
Tom Scott visits the USPS Remote Encoding Center in Salt Lake City, where keyers decipher mail images machines cannot read. It shows the lengths taken to decode bad handwriting.
“This Tom Scott video shows some of the surprising (to me) lengths to which the USPS does go to figure out the right address” (HN, 2023)
This Tom Scott video shows some of the surprising (to me) lengths to which the USPS does go to figure out the right address: [this video] Obviously this doesn't apply to your case, but I certainly didn't think they'd have a national center for decoding terrible handwriting.
Surprising lengths USPS goes to decode bad handwriting addresses.
Tom Scott did a great video showing the last one in operation. They use totally unique keyboards with what is essentially a stenography system: [this video]
Shows the last remaining manual mail coding operation with stenography-like keyboards.
Actually, we're talking about both, and you are wrong on both counts. If you weren't, you would be able to point to an existing system that has demonstrated the capability of classifying an image set on the order of iCloud's, without producing a false-positive. You can't, because such a system doesn't exist. Even the "solved" problem of OCR isn't capable of such a feat: [this video]
One of Don Rosa's books has the letters he sent to a friend in college, each with a drawing on the envelope and less and less address, until finally it was all drawing and barely part of a name - they all got (eventually) delivered. There's a specific branch of the post office that works on these - the dead letter office: [this video]
Shows the postal branch that handles undeliverable letters.
> Though USPS has been doing handwriting recognition since the 80's. On a very restricted dictionary of possible content, with a pool of people employed to fix anything where the computer is unsure. [this video]
USPS handwriting recognition uses restricted dictionary and human fixers.
As a profession (and under time constraints) ... Tom Scott : How the US Postal Service reads terrible handwriting - [this video] Part of the story is that the OCR that is handling hand lettered addresses. I also chuckled at the cursive letter recognition sheet on the side of the cube.
OCR handling hand-lettered addresses at the US Postal Service.
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