Canyoureadthis? I bet you can. How is it that we can read sentences without the spaces?
More to the point, how can we teach computers to read without spaces?
A nifty paper by Matt Mahoney, from the Florida Institute of Technology outlines one approach:
http://www.cs.fit.edu/~mmahoney/dissertation/lex1.html
The paper cites research by another scientist, showing that infants are able to parse the continuous sound of English before they are even able to speak their own first word.
Matt shows a way to apply stastical analysis to the breaks between characters and determine which breaks signify words. I need to put together something like it, if I choose to go that route for a project I'm working on.
But then I have to figure out how to words in get order the right. And that you do how do?
A puzzle for another day.