Recent Patents in Signal Processing - Handwriting recognition

For our November 2018 issue, we cover recent patents granted in the area of handwriting recognition.

In patent no. 10,055,660 a system, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and a method for Arabic handwriting recognition are provided. The method includes acquiring an input image representative of a handwritten Arabic text from a user, partitioning the input image into a plurality of regions, determining a bag of features representation for each region of the plurality of regions, modeling each region independently by multi stream discrete Hidden Markov Model (HMM), and identifying a text based on the HMM models.

Patent no. 10,025,976 presents a method of optimizing data normalization by selecting the best height normalization setting from training RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) with one or more datasets comprising multiple sample images of handwriting data, which comprises estimating a few top place ratios for normalization by minimizing a cost function for any given sample image in the training dataset, and further, determining the best ratio from the top place ratios by validating the recognition results of sample images with each top place ratio.

Patent no. 10,007,859 presents a system and method that is able to recognize a user's natural superimposed handwriting without any explicit separation between characters. The system and method is able to process single-stroke and multi-stroke characters. It can also process cursive handwriting. Further, the method and system can determine the boundaries of input words either by the use of a specific user input gesture or by detecting the word boundaries based on language characteristics and properties. The system and method analyzes the handwriting input through the processes of fragmentation, segmentation, character recognition, and language modeling. At least some of these processes occur concurrently throug

Patent no. 9,934,430 introduces new methods, systems, and computer-readable media related to a technique for providing handwriting input functionality on a user device. A handwriting recognition module is trained to have a repertoire comprising multiple non-overlapping scripts and capable of recognizing tens of thousands of characters using a single handwriting recognition model. The handwriting input module provides real-time, stroke-order and stroke-direction independent handwriting recognition. User interfaces for providing the handwriting input functionality are also disclosed.

Patent no. 9,898,187 presents methods, systems, and computer-readable media related to a technique for providing handwriting input functionality on a user device. A handwriting recognition module is trained to have a repertoire comprising multiple non-overlapping scripts and capable of recognizing tens of thousands of characters using a single handwriting recognition model. The handwriting input module provides real-time, stroke-order and stroke-direction independent handwriting recognition for multi-character handwriting input. In particular, real-time, stroke-order and stroke-direction independent handwriting recognition is provided for multi-character, or sentence level Chinese handwriting recognition. User interfaces for providing the handwriting input functionality are also disclosed.

As described in patent no. 9,883,397, a method, and a mobile device adapted thereto, verifies a user and executes applications via handwriting recognition. The method of controlling a mobile device includes entering a lock state, detecting a user's input, verifying a user based on the input and searching for an instruction corresponding to the input, and performing at least one of maintaining or releasing the lock state and which performs an operation corresponding to the instruction, based on user verification result and the instruction search result.

If you have an interesting patent to share when we next feature patents related to handwriting recognition, or if you are especially interested in a signal processing research field that you would want to be highlighted in this section, please send email to Csaba Benedek (benedek.csaba AT sztaki DOT mta DOT hu).

References

Number: 10,055,660
Title: Arabic handwriting recognition utilizing bag of features representation
Inventors: Mahmoud; Sabri A. (Dhahran, SA), Assayony; Mohammed O. (Dhahran, SA)
Issued: August 21, 2018
Assignee: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Dhahran, SA)

Number: 10,025,976
Title: Data normalization for handwriting recognition
Inventors: Sarraf; Saman (San Carlos, CA), Yang; Duanduan (San Jose, CA)
Issued: July 17, 2018
Assignee: Konica Minolta Laboratory U.S.A., INC. (San Mateo, CA)

Number: 10,007,859
Title: System and method for superimposed handwriting recognition technology
Inventors: Wimmer; Zsolt (Nantes, FR), Perraud; Freddy (Nantes, FR), Lallican; Pierre-Michel (Nantes, FR), Aradilla; Guillermo (Nantes, FR)
Issued: June 26, 2018
Assignee: MyScript (Nantes, FR)

Number: 9,934,430
Title: Multi-script handwriting recognition using a universal recognizer
Inventors: Dolfing; Jannes G. A. (Daly City, CA), Groethe; Karl M. (San Francisco, CA), Dixon; Ryan S. (Mountain View, CA), Bellegarda; Jerome R. (Saratoga, CA)
Issued: April 3, 2018
Assignee: Apple INC. (Cupertino, CA)

Number: 9,898,187
Title: Managing real-time handwriting recognition
Inventors:       Xia; Mei-Qun (San Francisco, CA), Dolfing; Jannes G. (Daly City, CA), Dixon; Ryan S. (Mountain View, CA), Groethe; Karl M. (San Francisco, CA), Misra; Karan (Mountain View, CA), Bellegarda; Jerome R. (Saratoga, CA), Meier; Ueli (Santa Cruz, CA)
Issued: February 20, 2018
Assignee: Apple INC. (Cupertino, CA)

Number: 9,883,397
Title: Mobile device, and method for releasing lock of the mobile device via handwriting recognition
Inventors: Kim; Sangho (Gyeonggi-do, KR), Kwon; Musik (Seoul, KR), Kim; Moorim (Gyeonggi-do, KR), Hwang; Seongtaek (Gyeonggi-do, KR)
Issued: January 30, 2018
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KR)