COMPUTER RECOGNITION OF ON-LINE, HAND-WRITTEN CHARACTERS

Abstract : This Memorandum discusses a method for recognizing single, hand- written characters using an online graphical input device, such as a digitizing pantograph, a light pen, or the Graphic Input Tablet, as the primary information source. Basically, the method consists of filtering and smoothing the input stream to eliminate as much redundancy as possible. Direction of the stylus movement is quantized into one of eight directions, allowing each stroke of a character to be described as a series of connected straight-line s5gments. By eliminating various measures on the stroke, the description is size-, position-, and rotation-independent. In order to restore some rotational orientation and to discriminate between open, closed, and multi-stroke characters, end-point comparisons are added to the description.