25. A method of machine recognition of discrete multi-component symbolic input from a user, comprising: a) providing a database of model input sequences, each model input sequence corresponding to a symbol to be recognized; b) acquiring an input function from a user, the input function including a time function; c) segmenting the input function into a sequence of input components; and d) determining a plurality of hypothesis symbol sequences, wherein at least one of the hypothesis symbol sequences is updated for each acquired input component based on a comparison of the input component to the database and based on a hypothesis symbol sequence history from at least two components previously in time.
25. A method of machine recognition of discrete multi-component symbolic input from a user, comprising: a) providing a database of model input sequences, each model input sequence corresponding to a symbol to be recognized; b) acquiring an input function from a user, the input function including a time function; c) segmenting the input function into a sequence of input components; and d) determining a plurality of hypothesis symbol sequences, wherein at least one of the hypothesis symbol sequences is updated for each acquired input component based on a comparison of the input component to the database and based on a hypothesis symbol sequence history from at least two components previously in time. 26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the discrete multi-component symbolic input corresponds to written characters.