In this excerpt from The Age of Spiritual Machines (Viking, 1999), Ray Kurzweil recalls the history of Kurzweil Educational Systems.

In 1996, working together with a brilliant team of scientists and managers who had earlier worked for the original Kurzweil Computer Products or its successor company, I founded a new reading technology company called Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc., which has developed a new generation of print-to-speech reading software for sighted persons with reading disabilities, as well as a new reading machine for blind people. The reading disabilities version, called the Kurzweil 3000, scans a printed document, displays the page just as it appears in the original document (e.g., book, magazine), with all of the color graphics and pictures intact. It then reads the document out loud while highlighting the image of the print as it is being read. It essentially does what a reading teacher does — reading to a pupil while pointing out exactly what is being read.

It is the applications of the technology benefiting disabled people that have brought me the greatest gratification. There is a fortuitous match between the capabilities of contemporary computers and the needs of a disabled person. We're not creating cybernetic geniuses today – not yet. The intelligence of our present-day intelligent computers is narrow, which can provide effective solutions for the narrow deficits of most disabled persons. The restricted intelligence of the machine works effectively with the broad and flexible intelligence of the disabled person. Overcoming the handicaps associated with disabilities using AI technologies has long been a personal goal of mine. With regard to the major physical and sensory disabilities, I believe that in a couple of decades, we will come to herald the effective end of handicaps. As amplifiers of human thought, computers have great potential to assist human expression and to expand creativity for all of us. I hope to continue playing a role in harnessing this potential.

Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc.© is widely recognized as an innovator and leading provider of reading and writing software for individuals with learning difficulties and for those who are blind.

Our mission is to provide high-quality assistive technology to people who face obstacles in accessing the printed word. In that way, we can help them lead more independent and enjoyable lives.

People who have known the company since its founding in 1996 understand that Kurzweil Educational Systems is more than just a business - it's a commitment. One that inspires each of us who works for the company.

To our customers, partners and friends who strive, like us, to enhance learning and expand literacy,we offer the words that have driven us from day one: Believe you can

Commitment is the cornerstone of our company

Our expertise in assistive technology was well established by the time we started the company in 1996. In fact, some of our management staff were associated with the development and introduction of the world's very first reading system, the Kurzweil Reading Machine, back in 1976.

The Kurzweil Reading Machine was the brainchild of a remarkable inventor named Ray Kurzweil, whose other inventions include the first omni-font optical character recognition, first CCD flat-bed scanner and first text-to-speech synthesizer. Each of those innovations continues to play an important role in assistive technology products today.

A number of us were part of successor assistive technology companies that built upon Kurzweil innovations. It is this core group of individuals who conceived and created the company in 1996, and who continue to serve as members of the senior staff.

Today, Kurzweil Educational is a vital, growing enterprise whose management holds a significant stake in the company. We remain passionately committed to opening the world of knowledge to people with learning difficulties or who are blind and to supporting the professionals who assist them.

Products that bring the power and pleasure of reading and learning to the lives of users

Kurzweil Educational currently offers two software products, Kurzweil 1000 and Kurzweil 3000™. Both products run on the Windows© platform and incorporate the most clear, human-like synthesized voices available coupled with a robust set of easy-to-use features for accessing, reading, managing and creating text and images. Kurzweil 3000 also runs on the Macintosh©.