...optically read by a scanning program.
The method would be a way to very quickly digitize old
vinyl
records. They already have laser record players, this would
just be another way to get audio information by looking at
the groove rather than having it directly move a needle.
Scratches
would be easy to graphically remove as well.
So pick one out of your catalog of records, push play and
watch the little digital needle vibrate as the picture of the
record turns under it.
You might be able to do something with this method I don't
think you
could do with any other. You could take a worn out record
and graphically enhance the peaks and valleys, perhaps
making them clearer than they were even in the original
recording.
So you could get an old cylinder recording,
recorded with very old technology, enhance the grooves
graphically, and hear, for the very first time, a crystal clear
recording of Thomas Edison reciting Mary Had A Little
Lamb.