News and Events - Kurzweil Educational Systems in the News

Brattleboro Reformer
September 7, 2002 by Les Kozaczek


Stop right now. Think about what you’re doing. You’re reading. Simple enough to do once you get the hang of it, right?

But try telling that to the parts of your eyes and brain and the rest of your body that are working like crazy to make sure that you not only accurately interpret the words on the page, but that you also relate the information you are receiving to the rest of the wealth of information that you carry around with you daily.

Suddenly, reading seems not so simple. In fact, it becomes downright complicated. Now, imagine trying to come up with a machine that will mimic that process well enough that it will read for you – aloud.

Don’t worry. It’s not a homework assignment. Besides, Ray Kurzweil, a pioneer in the development of assistive technology for students with special learning needs, already invented that machine along with a host of others.

Kurzweil is going to be in Putney at Landmark College this morning to receive an honorary doctorate from to recognize “his extraordinary” contribution to the increasingly hi-tech learning environment at the school. The event will take place during Landmark’s annual Honors Convocation ceremony.

Landmark College, the nation’s only institute of higher education whose enrollment is drawn exclusively from students with learning disabilities, has for years used Kurzweil’s omni-font optical character recognition and other of his inventions to assist students who have trouble reading.

The extra help has been just what many Landmark Students needed, say college officials. “Ray Kurzweil’s impact on students with learning disabilities has been immeasurable,” notes Lynda J. Katz, Landmark’s president in a prepared statement. “The extraordinary strides some of our students make at Landmark College would simply not be possible were it not for the path that Dr. Kurzweil blazed for them.

“He is a true pioneer and innovator, and an extraordinary man, whom Landmark College is pleased to recognize with an honorary Doctorate.”

Kurzweil also pioneered the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind, the first CCD flatbed scanner, the first text-to-speech synthesizer, and the first music synthesizer capable of recreating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments.

Kurzweil also founded and developed nine businesses in optical character recognition, music synthesis, speech recognition, reading technology, virtual reality, financial investment, medical simulation, and cybernetic art.

One of the secrets to the success behind Kurzweil’s hi-tech learning devices is that they acknowledge the discrepancy between many learning-disabled students’ reading ability and their much higher ability to understand the texts’ contents, explains Brent Betit, Landmark College’s executive vice president.

“The systems he developed has provided our students with a tremendous increase in their ability to access college-level information,” Betit says. “Some students have reading decoding issues and his software allows them to work at a much higher level, closer to their cognitive ability.”

Kurzweil is no stranger to the awards podium. Already under his belt are the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize, the world’s largest award in invention and innovation, and the 1999 National Medal of Technology, the nation’s highest honor in technology.

Also a popular author, Kurzweil’s current best-selling book, “The Age of Spiritual Machines, When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence” has been published in nine languages.

Kurzweil is truly a renaissance man. And lesser known among his many talents is that of film critic.

Kurzweil recently reviewed Simone, the new Al Pacino movie about a movie director who clones a “Synthespian” – a virtual actor – into his movies, for NPR.

Kurzweil was a natural choice, since he helped develop Ramone, a 25-year-old virtual pop singer. Kurzweil operates Ramone by hooking himself up to a series of magnetic sensors that allow the virtual celebrity to copy exactly the movements of the real celebrity.

“Ramone is just one way of showing that we don’t always have to stay with this boring body and brain forever,” Kurzweil explained.

Kurzweil said that, one day, assuming that there is more research, “Synthespians,” and real life actors will be “virtually indistinguishable.” The ramifications for the entertainment industry, particularly regarding the bottom line, are significant, he said.

Landmark’s faith in Kurzweil’s systems is evident in its decision to make this the first year that all incoming students will be required to have a Notebook computer, Betit says.

“We have a wireless environment, so students can use the programs anywhere they are on campus,” Betit says.

While delighted with the results Kurzweil’s systems are showing for those who use them, Betit emphasizes that not everything is going hi-tech at Landmark.

Kurzweil’s “…system isn’t a cure all for all of the reading…problems some of the Landmark students experience,” Betit says. “In fact, for the students whose reading ability is high, some of these kinds of tools can actually lower their abilities,” Betit says. “But, when you tailor the system’s use to the student who really needs it, there are often incredible results.”