Peripheral Vision brings PenOp technology to OpenDoc — The Handwritten Signature as a Software Object

March 21, 1995 — At ObjectWorld, Peripheral Vision Ltd. today announced that it has developed an OpenDoc part based on its PenOp software for handwritten signatures, and is making a pre-release version available to software developers and users.

Endorsed by IBM, Apple, Lotus and Novell among others, the OpenDoc architecture is an emerging industry standard for distributed, cross-platform software component integration. It can be described as a universal “container of content”, where compound documents are built using discrete components that handle such items as text, diagrams, spreadsheets and photographs. Significantly, OpenDoc allows the “mix and match” of components to be undertaken not just by programmers, but also by users. Furthermore, although such components may be developed in isolation of one another, the OpenDoc architecture enables them to work together and on different machines and operating systems, thereby supporting the integration of information across organizations.

Peripheral Vision’s PenOp is a set of software objects that manages what is often the most critical element of a document: the handwritten signature. Supporting a wide range of digitizers, PenOp allows handwritten signatures to be securely captured, transported, stored and verified on electronic documents, instead of manually on paper. In doing so, PenOp virtually eliminates the costs and delays associated with signatures on paper, while improving control and maintaining evidential value. Many business and regulatory processes remain paper-bound owing to the requirement for a handwritten signature. PenOp has thus found widespread applicability in many industries: Insurance, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Financial Services, Logistics, Banking, Federal and Local Government.

With the cost of digitizers falling to below $ 150, handwritten signature capture is now within reach of a wide variety of applications, at far less cost and with considerably greater efficiency than their paper equivalents. PenOp includes an advanced Biometric Signature Verification module which authenticates each signature according to the speed of the pen (as well as the resulting ink image) with an accuracy that exceeds the visual inspection of signatures – far more rapidly, and in large batches if necessary. In addition, verification of individual signatures in real time offers a natural and easy-to-use replacement for the password as a means of securing access to machines and networks. Therefore as well as reducing direct costs, PenOp also seeks to reduce fraud arising through unnoticed signature forgery, and to increase the security of computer systems generally.

“If you were to examine the documents that your organization uses, the chances are that every element has been computerized except one – the handwritten signature,” said Jeremy Newman, Managing Director of Peripheral Vision. “OpenDoc offers an ideal framework for PenOp, and allows the potential savings in costs and delays made possible by PenOp to be realized by users with little (if any) programming effort.”

Typical hardware configurations for PenOp signature capture include pen computers and low-cost digitizers attached to desktop or laptop machines. Users simply drop the PenOp part into OpenDoc documents where and when required. Signature interrogation or verification can then be carried out on any machine running PenOp – even on a different operating system. The new part is being made available in beta to OpenDoc developers immediately, and joins production versions of the basic component already shipping for Microsoft’s Windows for Pen Computing, IBM’s Pen for OS/2 and the DOS-based PenRight! environment from the company of the same name.

Peripheral Vision Limited is a privately held company with headquarters in Frome, Somerset, UK, and offices in New York, USA. It was founded in 1990 to develop, market and support software for the pen interface, worldwide. PenOp has been commercially available since 1993.

Peripheral Vision in the USA is located at 331 W. 57th Street, Suite 299, New York, NY 10019, Tel: 212/262-1588; Fax: 212/262-1599. Peripheral Vision’s address in the UK is Peripheral Vision, West Hill House, West End, Frome, Somerset BA11 3AD; Tel: (01373) 452755; Fax: (01373) 452744

Note to Editors: PenOp is a registered trademark of Peripheral Vision Limited. All other marks are the property of their respective holders.

CONTACT:
Peripheral Vision
Arthur Llewellyn, 800/286-4137
Peripheral Vision (UK)
Tel: (01373) 452755; Fax: (01373) 452744