UNDERSTANDING HANDWRITTEN TEXT IN A STRUCTURED ENVIRONMENT: DETERMINING ZIP CODES FROM ADDRESSES

Abstract

Understanding a block of handwritten text means mapping it into a semantic representation. We describe an approach to reading a block of handwritten text when there are certain loose constraints placed on the spatial layout and syntax of the text. Early recognition of primitives guides the location of syntactic components. A system to read handwritten postal addresses is described as an instance. The semantic representation in this case is a digit string (ZIP Code). Methods for segmenting a string of digits into components and for recognizing digits using a multiplicity of recognizers are given.