Jonathan Fabrizio

TextCatcher: A method to detect curved and challenging text in natural scenes

By Jonathan Fabrizio, Myriam Robert-Seidowsky, Séverine Dubuisson, Stefania Calarasanu, Raphaël Boissel

2016-04-08

In International Journal on Document Analysis and Recognition

Abstract In this paper, we propose a text detection algorithm which is hybrid and multi-scale. First, it relies on a connected component-based approach: After the segmentation of the image, a classification step using a new wavelet descriptor spots the letters. A new graph modeling and its traversal procedure allow to form candidate text areas. Second, a texture-based approach discards the false positives. Finally, the detected text areas are precisely cut out and a new binarization step is introduced.

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Towards the rectification of highly distorted texts

By Stefania Calarasanu, Séverine Dubuisson, Jonathan Fabrizio

2016-02-01

In Proceedings of the 11th international conference on computer vision theory and applications (VISAPP)

Abstract A frequent challenge for many Text Understanding Systems is to tackle the variety of text characteristics in born-digital and natural scene images to which current OCRs are not well adapted. For example, texts in perspective are frequently present in real-word images, but despite the ability of some detectors to accurately localize such text objects, the recognition stage fails most of the time. Indeed, most OCRs are not designed to handle text strings in perspective but rather expect horizontal texts in a parallel-frontal plane to provide a correct transcription.

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What is a good evaluation protocol for text localization systems? Concerns, arguments, comparisons and solutions

Abstract A trustworthy protocol is essential to evaluate a text detection algorithm in order to, first measure its efficiency and adjust its parameters and, second to compare its performances with those of other algorithms. However, current protocols do not give precise enough evaluations because they use coarse evaluation metrics, and deal with inconsistent matchings between the output of detection algorithms and the ground truth, both often limited to rectangular shapes. In this paper, we propose a new evaluation protocol, named EvaLTex, that solves some of the current problems associated with classical metrics and matching strategies.

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Using histogram representation and earth mover’s distance as an evaluation tool for text detection

By Stefania Calarasanu, Jonathan Fabrizio, Séverine Dubuisson

2015-08-01

In Proceedings of the 13th IAPR international conference on document analysis and recognition (ICDAR)

Abstract In the context of text detection evaluation, it is essential to use protocols that are capable of describing both the quality and the quantity aspects of detection results. In this paper we propose a novel visual representation and evaluation tool that captures the whole nature of a detector by using histograms. First, two histograms (coverage and accuracy) are generated to visualize the different characteristics of a detector. Secondly, we compare these two histograms to a so called optimal one to compute representative and comparable scores.

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A self-adaptive likelihood function for tracking with particle filter

By Séverine Dubuisson, Myriam Robert-Seidowsky, Jonathan Fabrizio

2015-03-01

In Proceedings of the 10th international conference on computer vision theory and applications (VISAPP)

Abstract The particle filter is known to be efficient for visual tracking. However, its parameters are empirically fixed, depending on the target application, the video sequences and the context. In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm which automatically adjusts “on-line" two majors of them: the correction and the propagation parameters. Our purpose is to determine, for each frame of a video, the optimal value of the correction parameter and to adjust the propagation one to improve the tracking performance.

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TextTrail: A robust text tracking algorithm in wild environments

By Myriam Robert-Seidowsky, Jonathan Fabrizio, Séverine Dubuisson

2015-03-01

In Proceedings of the 10th international conference on computer vision theory and applications (VISAPP)

Abstract In this paper, we propose TextTrail, a robust new algorithm dedicated to text tracking in uncontrolled environments (strong motion of camera and objects, partial occlusions, blur, etc.). It is based on a particle filter framework whose correction step has been improved. First, we compare some likelihood functions and introduce a new one that integrates tangent distance. We show that the likelihood function has a strong influence on the text tracking performances.

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A precise skew estimation algorithm for document images using KNN clustering and fourier transform

By Jonathan Fabrizio

2014-05-26

In Proceedings of the 21st international conference on image processing (ICIP)

Abstract In this article, we propose a simple and precise skew estimation algorithm for binarized document images. The estimation is performed in the frequency domain. To get a precise result, the Fourier transform is not applied to the document itself but the document is preprocessed: all regions of the document are clustered using a KNN and contours of grouped regions are smoothed using the convex hull to form more regular shapes, with better orientation.

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Text detection in street level image

By Jonathan Fabrizio, Beatriz Marcotegui, Matthieu Cord

2013-11-05

In Pattern Analysis and Applications

Abstract Text detection system for natural images is a very challenging task in Computer Vision. Image acquisition introduces distortion in terms of perspective, blurring, illumination, and characters which may have very different shape, size, and color. We introduce in this article a full text detection scheme. Our architecture is based on a new process to combine a hypothesis generation step to get potential boxes of text and a hypothesis validation step to filter false detections.

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Motion compensation based on tangent distance prediction for video compression

By Jonathan Fabrizio, Séverine Dubuisson, Dominique Béréziat

2012-02-09

In Signal Processing: Image Communication

Abstract We present a new algorithm for motion compensation that uses a motion estimation method based on tangent distance. The method is compared with a Block-Matching based approach in various common situations. Whereas Block-Matching algorithms usually only predict positions of blocks over time, our method also predicts the evolution of pixels into these blocks. The prediction error is then drastically decreased. The method is implemented into the Theora codec proving that this algorithm improves the video codec performances.

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SnooperText: A multiresolution system for text detection in complex visual scenes

By Rodrigo Minetto, Nicolas Thome, Matthieu Cord, Jonathan Fabrizio, Beatriz Marcotegui

2010-12-31

In Proceedings of the IEEE international conference on image processing (ICIP)

Abstract Text detection in natural images remains a very challenging task. For instance, in an urban context, the detection is very difficult due to large variations in terms of shape, size, color, orientation, and the image may be blurred or have irregular illumination, etc. In this paper, we describe a robust and accurate multiresolution approach to detect and classify text regions in such scenarios. Based on generation/validation paradigm, we first segment images to detect character regions with a multiresolution algorithm able to manage large character size variations.

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