Paper-based Interaction

Human Computer Interaction Group Project

Group Members

• Waruna Kodituwakku

• Buddhika Chandrasiri

• Lamali Ediriweera

• Kashmira Karunarathne

• Dhanuka Pathinayake

University of Colombo School of Computing

Roadmap

Introduction to Paper-based InteractionMain Technologies & Tools

OCR OMR OBR MICR

How this could be used to enhance user interaction.Demonstration

Free Online OCR, i2OCR,

Introduction to Paper-based Interaction

What is Paper Based Interaction

• The interaction between the paper documents and the electronic devices in more integrated and efficient way.

• Using this computers try to deal with paper documents as they deal with other forms of computer media.

• So the paper would be as readable by the computer as magnetic and optical disks.

Paper Based Interaction aspires to create unique and novel set of technologies to enable new types of interaction between paper and the digital world with a focus on simplifying end user experiences

The Areas of Paper Based Interaction

Document Image Analysis and understanding Offline Handwriting recognition Computer Vision Pattern Recognition Information Theory Machine Learning Compressive Sensing

Document Image Analysis

Main Technologies, Software Tools and Devices

Main Technologies

Several technologies and associated devices which are related to Paper-based Interaction are listed as follows.

1 •Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

2 •Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)

3 •Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

4 •Optical Barcode Recognition (OBR)

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

Optical character recognition (OCR) is the mechanical or electronic conversion of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. OCR is a field of research in pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and computer vision.Types

• Optical character recognition (OCR) - targets typewritten text, one glyph or character at a time.

• Optical word recognition - targets typewritten text, one word at a time.• Intelligent character recognition (ICR) - also targets handwritten print

script or cursive text one glyph or character at a time.• Intelligent word recognition (IWR) - also targets handwritten

print script or cursive text, one word at a time.

OCR SoftwareOCR software let you easily convert images, such as digital photographs, scanned documents, printed books, etc. into text. Once you perform OCR on an image, you’ll be able to copy-paste or edit the text content of that image without any retyping and it also becomes more searchable. Here is a list of notable online OCR Tools.

• I2OCR (http://www.i2ocr.com/)i2OCR is a free online Optical Character Recognition (OCR) web application that extracts text from images so that it can be edited, formatted, indexed, searched, or translated.

Input images could be scanned documents (i.e., books, faxes, receipts, bank statements, contracts, etc), screenshots, photographs, or digital camera captured images.

OCR Software Contd.

• Abbyy FineReader (http://finereader.abbyyonline.com/en)FineReader Online is a web-based OCR service that can instantly convert your PDF files and images into corresponding office file formats. FineReader can understand a much wider variety of languages. It even works with multilingual documents that have text written multiple languages.

• Online OCR (http://www.onlineocr.net/)Online OCR is cloud based OCR service that can handle all common images formats including scanned PDFs. If you have multiple images that you would like to convert to text in one go, you can put them all in a single zip file and upload it to Online OCR. Online OCR is able to preserve the structure and formatting after the conversion.

OCR Software Contd.• OCR Convert (http://www.ocrconvert.com/)

OCRconvert.com is a free online OCR service that allows you to convert PDF to Text, JPEG to Text and scanned images into editable documents. Simply upload your file and our server side program will process your file for any editable text and will send the results back to you, which you can either download the processed text in for of word document or copy & past online.

• Free Online OCR (http://www.free-online-ocr.com/)Free Online OCR accepts JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and multi-page PDF files, and can export DOC, RTF, TXT or searchable PDF files. It can automatically correct documents that have been rotated during the scanning process, and uses a dictionary to increases the accuracy of text recognition.

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)Optical Mark Recognition (also called optical mark reading and OMR) is the process of capturing human-marked data from document forms such as surveys and tests.

OMR Software is a computer software application that makes OMR possible on a desktop computer by using an Image scanner to process surveys, tests, attendance sheets, checklists, and other plain-paper forms printed on a laser printer. OMR is generally distinguished from optical character recognition (OCR) by the fact that a complicated pattern recognition engine is not required.

OMR Software• Quiz OMR (Optical Mark Reader)

Quiz OMR is an extension to Moodle's "Quiz" module. Quiz OMR provides online support for managing and evaluating objective-type assessments which are conducted offline using OMR sheets. This tool supports features provided by Moodle like question banking, automatic result evaluation, result analysis, result publication etc.

• Abbyy FlexiCaptureABBYY FlexiCapture is a data capture and document processing software. It provides a single entry point to automatically transform streams of different forms and documents of any structure and complexity into business-ready data with automatic document classification and data capture features.

• Udai OMR toolThis is a free-to-use OMR (Optimal Mark Recognition) tool. It is especially suited for extracting data from forms that have been photo-copied and then scanned; hence, the resultant images are likely to suffer from rotations, smudge marks, and random lines here and there.

• Samrt Mark Reader (SMR)Smart Mark Reader™ is software for designing and read Answer Sheets Form to the data, and examines, assess and provide evaluation reports and analysis, using digital image scanners. SMR is exclusively can read any skewed or rotated form's image in any angle from 0 up to 360 degrees.

• Shared Questionnaire System (SQS) SQS is an integrated Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) form processing system with straightforward GUIs, which is aimed at developing social platforms to share knowledge about questionnaire based on XML standards. You can install and launch them easily from your web browser by JavaWebStart.

Optical Barcode Recognition (OBR)

• Optical machine-readable representation of data • Originally barcodes systematically represented data by

varying the widths and spacing of parallel lines• Later they evolved into rectangles, dots, hexagons and

other geometric patterns in two dimensions (2D)• scanners-barcode readers, interpretive software

Main Types of Barcode Scanners

• RS-232 Barcode Scanner - Requires special programming for transferring the input data to the application program.

• Keyboard Interface Scanners connect to a computer using a PS/2 or AT keyboard - Compatible adaptor cable (a "keyboard wedge"). The barcode's data is sent to the computer as if it had been typed on the keyboard.

• USB Scanners - Easy to install and do not need custom code for transferring input data to the application program. On PCs running windows the HID interface emulates the data merging action of a hardware "keyboard wedge", and the scanner automatically behaves like an additional keyboard.

Barcode Recognition Software

• Built around optical barcode recognition (OBR) technology• This technology allows for the extraction of information

present in barcodes• in an office setting is usually used to capture barcodes present

on scanned images of documents and letters• image types such as BMP, TIFF, JPEG

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

• MICR is a character recognition technology used mainly by the banking industry to facilitate the processing and clearance of cheques and other documents. The MICR encoding, called the MICR line, is located at the bottom of a cheque or other voucher and typically includes the document type indicator, bank code, bank account number, cheque number and the amount, plus some control indicator.

• The technology allows MICR readers to scan and read the information directly into a data collection device. Unlike barcodes or similar technologies, MICR characters can be easily read by humans.

• There are two major MICR fonts in use: E-13B and CMC-7. E-13B has a 14 character set, while CMC-7 has 15—the 10 numeric characters, plus control characters.

MICR Readers• MICR characters are printed on a document in either of the MICR fonts.

The ink used in the printing is a magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron oxide. The MICR text is passed before a MICR reader.

• The ink in the plane of the paper is first magnetized. Then the characters are passed over a MICR read head, a device similar to the playback head of a tape recorder. As each character passes over the head it produces a unique waveform that can be easily identified by the system.

Types of MICR ReadersMagnetic readers come in two types: single track (single gap or split scan) and multiple track (matrix or pattern) readers.

• Single-Track Reader - Single track uses a read head with one gap to detect the magnetic flux pattern generated by the MICR character.

• Multi-Track Reader - The multiple track reader employs a matrix of tiny, vertically aligned read heads to detect the presence of the magnetic flux pattern. The small individual read heads slice across the character to detect the presence of magnetic flux.

How these technologies could be used to enhance user interaction

In early days of computing some activities (for example printing pay checks or entering the results from a questionnaire) required manually entering data by users.

This would take lot of time and had several disadvantages. In general, scanners and reading devices increase input accuracy and efficiency by reducing the role of the weak link in the input process – the human operator.

But the invention of Scanner and some paper-based technology such as OCR, OMR, MICR and OBR has clearly enhanced the user interaction as discussed below.

Data Capturing involves the transforming of written or typed data from hard copies to computerized media. This captured data can be presented to the client on virtually any storage medium, including compact disc, flash drives or by using e-mail, direct data communication, dial-up connection and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

OCR increases the efficiency and effectiveness of office work. The ability to instantly search through content is immensely useful, especially in an office setting that has to deal with high volume scanning or high document inflow. Users can now use the copy and paste tools on the document as well, instead of rewriting everything to correct it.

OMR, or optical mark recognition, allows users to analyze your forms or questionnaires electronically, thus saving your time and minimizing human error.

In OBR, information captured from barcodes can help invoice processing software recognize the invoice faster. This leads to accurate matching of invoices with vendor information and faster payments. It also helps users to indexing of documents.

MICR software packages can process several hundred checks per hour and can even read multiple lines of MICR data at one instance. Some such MICR software can even read correction images, deal with poor quality images, parse fields containing MICR ink, and even prepare the image for remote deposit.

Simply these technologies mountain of paper-based data and give back the electronic information business processes need. This saves time, money, effort and storage space, adding real value to operations and enhance user interaction.

Demonstration

Free Online OCR

• A free service that allows to easily convert scanned documents, faxes, screenshots and photos into editable and searchable text, such as DOC, TXT or PDF.

• This is completely free software service and users can convert their particular files without any user registration either.

• Official Website: http://www.free-online-ocr.com/

Step 01• Go to the official website of the “Free Online OCR” http://www.free-online-ocr.com/

Step 02• Upload the Original file that you want to convert with the “Free Online OCR”• This file could be a un editable PDF file or image file belongs to one of the

following formats.– JPEG– GIF– BMP– TIFF– PNG

Step 03• Select the format of the target file.• It can be

– Word document, PDF, RTF document or Text document

Step 04• Click Convert and wait till the program do the particular conversion according

to the given preferences.

Step 05• After the file get converted the Download icon appears and can download it

for the local machine.

i2OCR • i2OCR is a free online Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

that extracts text from images so that it can be edited, formatted, indexed, searched, or translated.– 60+ Recognition Languages– Supports Major Image Formats– Multi Column Document Analysis– 100% FREE with Unlimited Uploads

Step 1• Visit i2OCR website (http://www.i2ocr.com/)• Insert Image/File URL or tick File and click Select Image. Then we

can upload file in our computer to the website.

Sample Image

Step 2Then select the language of the Image uploaded. i2OCR supports 60 languages

Step 3Then click Extract Here Button and wait for the results

Extracted text can be downloaded as one of the following file formats:

• Text - Microsoft Word • Adobe PDF

Output

Remark Office OMR • Here we are using Remark office omr tool.• It is an offline software and demo version of it freely available on

there official site.• Any one can download it freely by filling a form.• Here is the link:

http://www.gravic.com/remark/officeomr/downloads.html

Step 1

In this software there are two interfaces called Remark Office OMR Template editor and Remark Office Data Center.After opening the template of the Sheet user can simply select the area where data contain. For that user must click on OMR which is pointed here by using red arrow and then can select the area.

Step 2After the selection area it gives properties window which belongs to selected area. Then user can give region definition and region layout and labels. Then click on “ok” button.

Step 3Then user must open Remark Office OMR Data Center for capture data.

Step 4Then user can open the created template

Step 5Then it show like this. Next step is reading data. For that user must go to Read Wizard

Step 6Then it shows this. Here we are going to read image file. So user must select it and then click on next button.

Step 7Here user can select scanned image files which they want to read and then click on read button

Finally it shows data which was read earlier

Android Barcode Scanner Application

We have used Barcode Scanner Application which is available for download at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.zxing.client.android&hl=en which can scan barcodes on products then look up prices and reviews. This can also scan Data Matrix and QR Codes containing URLs, contact info, etc.

Step 1

Installed the application in a Android mobile phone with a camera.

Step 2• Then we selected a barcode,• run the app from phone and • scanned the barcode using phone’s camera.

Information of scanned barcode can be seen on phone’s display screen

References

• Optical character recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Optical character recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition. [Accessed 26 March 2013].

• What is OCR and OCR Technology. 2013. What is OCR and OCR Technology. [ONLINE] Available at: http://finereader.abbyy.com/about_ocr/whatis_ocr/. [Accessed 26 March 2013].

• Optical mark recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Optical mark recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_mark_recognition. [Accessed 26 March 2013].

• . 2013. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.id.uzh.ch/dl/arbeit/compi/spez/remark/RemarkOfficeOMR8UsersGuide.pdf. [Accessed 26 March 2013].

•  • Barcode - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Barcode - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

[ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode. [Accessed 27 March 2013].

• Magnetic ink character recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Magnetic ink character recognition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_ink_character_recognition. [Accessed 01 April 2013].