[wicknicks]

Yes, content analysis can be greatly simplified using symbolic inputs. GPS Tags in images, User input in OP's check example and most industrial pipelines used sophisticated barcode scanners to scan objects very quickly, but the cameras are at a fixed distance/height from the object and the objects are aligned in a particular direction. Some purists would argue that this is not computer vision, but it makes for some excellent engineering, and solves some hard problems very well.