System for capturing and presenting text while maintaining material context during optical character recognition

Abstract

A system for presenting text found on an object. The system comprises an object manipulation subsystem configured to position the substantially planar object for imaging; an imaging module configured to capture an image of the substantially planar object; a text capture module configured to capture text from the image of the substantially planar object; an Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) component configured to convert the text to a digital text; a material context component configured to associate a media type with the text found on the substantially planar object; and an output module configured to convert the digital text to an output format, wherein the system is configured to organize the digital text according to the media type before converting the digital text to an output format.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides a high-level overview of certain embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrates a front view and a side view of an exemplary handheld embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a rear view and a top view of the device illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

FIGS. 4A and 4B provide an isometric view of an exemplary standalone embodiment in an open configuration and a top view of the standalone embodiment in a closed configuration.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C provide a side view of the standalone embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B with an enlarged view of the exterior front panel and an enlarged view of the interior back panel.

FIG. 6 shows a sample page of a book containing black text against a white background that can be captured and/or processed by an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a sample page of a colored magazine article that can be captured and/or processed by an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C illustrate schematics of an exemplary standalone embodiment.

Claims

1. A system for presenting text found on a substantially planar object, the system comprising: an object manipulation subsystem configured to position the substantially planar object for imaging;an imaging module configured to capture an image of the substantially planar object;a text capture module configured to capture text from the image of the substantially planar object;an Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) component configured to convert the text to a digital text;a material context component configured to associate a media type with the text found on the substantially planar object; andan output module configured to convert the digital text to an output format, wherein the system is configured to organize the digital text according to the media type before converting the digital text to an output format.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the material context component is further configured to associate a layout format with the media type.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the material context component is further configured to evaluate the media type and layout format to determine the layout of text found on the object.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an image enhancement module to prepare the environment for imaging the substantially planar object.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the output format is selected from the group consisting of speech, Braille, and displaying large print text.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the text capture module is further configured to capture text from a plurality of the images.

7. A system for capturing text found on an object, the system comprising: an object manipulation module configured to position the object for imaging;an imaging module configured to image the object;a text capture module configured to capture a text from the image of the object;an OCR component configured to convert the text from the object to a digital text; anda material context component configured to organize the digital text to maintain a text layout on the object.

8. The system of claim 7, the system further comprising an output module configured to convert the digital text to an output format.

9. The, system of claim 7, wherein the text capture module is further configured to capture text from a plurality of the images.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the output module is further configured to translate the digital text.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the output format is a language different than the text found on the object.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the output format is selected from the group consisting of speech, Braille, and displaying in large print text.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the output module is further configured to display a first output format and emit a second output format as speech.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the output module is further configured to synchronize the first output format with the second output format.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the output module is further configured to emphasize text of the first output format as corresponding text in the second output format is spoken.

16. The system of claim 7, the system further comprising a data module configured to manage the digital text for subsequent access.

17. A system for capturing text found on a non-planar object, the system comprising: an object manipulation module configured to position the non-planar object for imaging;an imaging module configured to capture a text from the non-planar object; andan OCR component configured to convert the text to a digital text.

18. The system of claim 17, the system further comprising a data module configured to manage access to the digital text.

19. The system of claim 17, the system further comprising an output module configured to convert the digital text to an output format.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the output module is further configured to translate the digital text.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the output format is a language different than the text found on the non-planar object.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the output format is selected from the group consisting of speech, Braille, and displaying large print text.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the output format is speech and displayed as printed text.

24. The system of claim 17, the system further comprising a material context component configured to associate a media type with the text found on the object.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the material context component is further configured to associate a layout format with the media type.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the material context component is further configured to evaluate the media type and layout format to determine the layout of text found on the object.

27. A system for capturing text found on an object, the system comprising: a. a page turning component configured to manipulate the object;b. a framing component configured to position the object;c. a light configured to enhance contrast on the object;d. a focusing component configured to generate a crisp image;e. an image capture component configured to generate an image of the object;f. a conversion component configured to convert the image to an OCR suitable image;g. an image composition component configured to process the OCR suitable image to create a composition page scan;h. an image conditioning component configured to create a conditioned image;i. an OCR component configured to convert the conditioned image to a digital text, wherein the digital text is stored in a first data structure;j. a material context component configured to organize the first data structure to retain the layout of the text on the object;k. a storage component configured to store the first data structure as a first stored digital text;l. a librarian component configured to manage access to the first stored digital text from the storage component;m. a housing configured to contain the page turning component, the framing component, the light, the image capture component, the conversion component, the image composition component, the image conditioning component, the OCR component, and the material context component.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the housing is further configured to contain the storage component.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the housing is further configured to contain the librarian component.

30. The system of claim 27, further comprising an output component configured to convert the first stored digital text to an output format.