Michela Chorded Keyboard
Antonio Michela Zuccoo (1815 to 1886) invented a shorthand system and a chorded keyboard (like today's piano keys)
His system is used beginning around 1880 in Italian courtroom.
At the World championships in Beijing (2009) and in Budapest (2015), a Senate reporter reached with Michela keyboard 445 syllables in 2009 and 471 syllables in 2015, that is the highest writing speed among all competitors and all systems, including those with computerized voice recognition systems.
Roughly, 400 syllables is 200 words per minute. Just half the number to convert.
- 1 syllable of English is about 2 to 3 characters. Let's say 2.5.
- The “word” in “Word per Minute” is 5 characters.
The most modern version of the Michela keyboard currently in use, while still relying on mechanisms not too dissimilar to those of the first specimens, has adopted
the latest state-of-the-art computer technology, becoming one of the fastest data entry mechanisms today existing. The keyboard is currently using the same softwares for decryption of stenographic notes in use at the United States Congress, adapted to the Italian language after long and in-depth studies, similar to what has been done in other major european languages (Spanish, French and German). The program in question has powerful artificial intelligence algorithms and represents the technology's top tip: it is used, for example, in the Canadian Senate to realize subtitling for non-listeners on the parliamentary television channel.
In addition to parliamentary matters (together with the US and Canada are to be remembered by the Australian Federal Parliament, the Argentinean Senate and various German regional parliaments) these transcription softwares are used in the US judicial system, military forces and television companies, as well as the International monetary fund and numerous UK resettlement and subtitling companies.
The latest versions of the machine use the MIDI protocol (the same of the musical keyboards) to connect with a personal computer that can produce instant transcription of perfectly synchronized speech with digital audio recording (which can be made available to users on the Internet or can be archived).
Michela System
For description of the Michela Chorded Keyboard, see starting in the middle of the following document.