an optical text scanning device compatible with a small handheld computer such as a personal digital assistant . the scanning device allows for a clear view of the text that is scanned simultaneous to the scanning process so that the operator can continuously align the device to the text . the scanned images of the text are converted in real - time to standard byte or word characters for subsequent display on the computer &# 39 ; s viewing screen . the operator can quickly verify the accuracy of the conversion by comparing the displayed character with the actual character of text on the surface that is being scanned . scanned text characters are stored in standard digital text files for ease of manipulation .