StrCombo: combination of string recognizers

In this paper, we contribute a new paradigm of combining string recognizers and propose generic frameworks for hierarchical and parallel combination of multiple string recognizers. The frameworks are open to any new achievement in either recognizers or combination algorithms, and can be applied to both machine-printed and handwritten string recognition problems. A parallel combination system, StrCombo, is implemented based on three independent alphanumeric handwritten string recognizers that act as black boxes. We propose a graph-based approach that regards each segment from individual string recognizers as nodes of a graph, and choose the optimal path with the lowest cost to output a combined result. All factors such as the agreement of size, classification, and the position are converted into a measurement resulting in a soft decision. StrCombo has achieved a substantial improvement over any one of the individual recognizers, as demonstrated by experimental results on standard numer...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: PRL
• Authors: Xiangyun Ye, Mohamed Cheriet, Ching Y. Suen
• Keywords: Handwritten String, PRL 2002, Recognizers, String Recognizers