Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)

OPTICAL MARK RECOGNITION SCANNER (OMR)

A. How does it work?

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) is a process that assists data collection by capturing human–marked data (checkboxes, shaded areas, etc.) from documents that can be scanned on optical sheets.

To capture data from a document, an Optical Mark Recognition scanner is needed in order to transform the document into an electronic image. After the document has been turned into an electronic image, the Optical Mark Recognition software can start extrapolating data from the scanned image.

The traditional OMR device shines a beam of light onto the form paper. “The contrasting reflectivity produced at predetermined positions on a page is then used to detect the marked areas because they reflect less light than the blank areas of the paper."

Some OMR devices, on the other hand, “use forms which are pre-printed onto transmission optical (transoptic) paper and measure the amount of light which passes through the paper, thus a mark on either side of the paper will reduce the amount of light passing through the paper.

Other than the two devices, there is also an OMR software available that can be used by a desktop computer. It “allows a user to create their own forms in a word processor and print them on a laser printer.” It then works with “a common desktop image scanner with a document feeder to process the forms once filled out.”

B. Who are the leading providers of the said service?

•Scantron Corporation

•Chatsworth Data Corporation

•Apperson

C. How does it differ from other similar devices?

In contrast to other similar devices, specifically scanners, OMR devices do not require a complicated pattern recognition engine which means that the marks from the forms are “created in such a way that there is little chance of not reading the marks correctly.” In addition to that, OMR devices also do not require the image “to have high contrast and an easily recognizable or irrelevant shape.”

D. What is the device used for?

The OMR device can be used for different applications in different fields such as:

• Process of institutional research

• Community surveys

• Consumer surveys

• Tests/assessments

• Evaluations/Feedback

• Data compilation

• Product evaluation

• Time sheets/Inventory counts

• Membership subscription forms

• Lotteries/Voting

• Geo-coding in postal codes

No other possible uses for the device can be researched aside from what it is designed for.

References

For the information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_Mark_Recognition#OMR_Software (accessed on: 08-04-09, 2:15pm)

http://www.gravic.com/remark/omr.html (accessed on: 08-04-09, 2:20pm)

http://www.readsoft.com/target_02/optical-mark-recognition/?gclid=CKmUk-WxiZwCFQMupAodM3R0Zg (accessed: 08-04-09, 2:35pm)

For the images:

http://www.murraydata.co.uk

http://microlab.uwyo.edu/Documentation/OMR/images/scanner.gif