One of the more interesting technologies that Hewlett-Packard showed off at a research event recently was HP BookPrep. This service essentially enables consumers to track down and buy any book – even those that have been out of print for years.
HP is using its imaging algorithms to do more than simply scan rare books into a digital format. HP can take yellowed or damaged copies of books and, upon scanning them into, restore them to the original intended form.
Prakash Reddy, system architect at of BookPrep at HP, said the technology can deal with various aging problems or the skewed lettering that happens at the edge of a book’s spine upon scanning. And while Google is currently scanning books into digital form, HP is focusing on making the books look good for high-quality color prints on paper or in a print-ready PDF file.
“We create a digital asset that is ready to print on demand,” he said.