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able to a grower in his farming operation. Since the producer 
supplies information (data) for his own operation, results of the 
computer analysis are tailored to his individual situation. 
Low cost, multi-purpose touch-tone telephone terminals and 
standard telephone lines are used to gain access to the computer. 
Data are entered manually into the computer by means of push 
buttons, or automatically by using punched plastic cards. The 
automatic feature is particularly useful for feeding in pre¬ 
determined digital codes to identify the user and to request the 
desired computer program. 
The novel feature that makes this system feasible and 
effective is the "spoken” reply received from an Audio Response 
Unit located near the computer. Once execution of a program 
begins, the computer will "ask” for the required input values. 
These are entered using the touch-tone keyboard. After the 
data have been entered and verified, the proper words are 
selected from a prerecorded stored vocabulary and returned to the 
user via telephone. The responding female voice, affectionately 
known as Synthia by Michigan growers, may be heard over an 
auxiliary speaker or over the handset’s receiver. 
Before requesting access to the co mp uter, the user fills 
in the input portion of an input/output form. Separate forms 
accompany each program. Qualitative information including names 
of pesticides, diseases, and symptoms are entered into and re¬ 
trieved from the computer in coded form. The codes to be used 
are listed either on the input/output form or on a separate work¬ 
sheet. A record of the computer analysis is maintained by 
writing the results on the output section of the form. 
The following example illustrates how the touch—tone tele¬ 
phone is used to identify plant diseases. The computer program 
was developed by Larry E. Morse, an undergraduate at Michigan 
State University, for identifying plants. It was converted for 
operation via touch-tone telephone. 
The central feature of this system is a date matrix in 
which the symptoms exhibited by each disease are stored on disc 
files in coded form. Currently, the matrices are being developed 
on a crop basis and include most of the common diseases which 
occur on each crop in Michigan. Tentative data matrices have 
been constructed for identifying peach and cherry diseases. 
To identify a plant disease specimen, the user must fill 
out the input/output form for program 09. A supplemental work¬ 
sheet listing symptom and disease codes is supplied for each 
matrix. The user calls the computer located at the University of 
Michigan and, upon request, enters the input data using the push 
buttons on the telephone. Almost instantly, the computer responds 
with the results of the analysis. If identification is not 
obtained, the analysis may be adjusted based upon symptoms sug¬ 
gested by the computer. If more than one sample is to be iden¬ 
tified, the user continues by entering data for the next sample. 
Computer diagnosis using the Morse system has the advantage 
of not being restricted to a fixed sequence as with dichotomous 
keys. One or more symptoms can be used in the identification 
process. The computer also lists the most distinguishing symptoms 
