Document Imaging and OCR using Cameras
Dr. Mauritius Seeger
Xerox Research Center Europe
Cambridge CB2 1AB U.K.
Friday, September 21st, 3:00 PM, ENS 637
seeger@xrce.xerox.com
Paper
Abstract
A major aspect of research at XRCE is document imaging with digital cameras.
We are motivated by the convenience of using cameras as opposed to
conventional scanning devices. Cameras acquire images under less constrained
conditions than devices specifically designed for high-quality document
capture. This is both a key to their great convenience and the source of
severe image variations and degradations. Our intensive study of document
image analysis under such conditions has recently resulted in the PageCam
product, which provides efficient OCR from images acquired with a PC-video
camera.
In this talk I will outline the problems associated with camera imaging and
present some solutions we investigated in the course of our research in this
area. These include optical devices to increase the resolution of cameras
and new image processing methods for enhancing the quality of camera images.
Biography
Mauritius Seeger obtained his PhD in Optics at the University of Kent at
Canterbury. His thesis was entitled "Three Dimensional Imaging using Optical
Coherence Radar". During his PhD project he developed a new optical
technique for measuring the three-dimensional structure of hypervelocity
impact craters and human retinal tissue. Mauritius joined the Xerox Research
Center Europe (XRCE) at Cambridge, United Kingdom in February 1998 and works
in the image processing competency group, which invents and evaluates novel
approaches to imaging problems that arise in office and mobile settings.
A list of Telecommunications and Signal Processing Seminars is available at
from the ECE department Web pages under "Seminars".
The Web address for the Telecommunications and Signal Processing Seminars is
http://signal.ece.utexas.edu/seminars