Address interpretation

摘要

The task of determining the postal destination of a piece of mail inrolves not only the recognition of the shapes of the symbols written or printed on the piece but also relating the task to standard addresses contained in a database. I'his task can be said to be one of Address Interpretation (AI).rnHandwriting is a skill that is personal to individuals. The task of reading handwriting is one involving specialized human skills. Knowledge of the subject domain is essential, as for example in the case of a pharmacist reading a doctor's prescription.rnThe Handwritten Address Interpretation, or HWAI, project that has been conducted at CEDAR since the early eighties explores the use of knowledge of the postal domain in the recognition of handwritten addresses. The task is considered to be one of interpretation rather than recognition since the goal is to assign the address to Us correct destination irrespective of incomplete or contradictory information present in the writing. The work at CEDAR has led to a system that recognizes handwritten addresses that is currently in use by the United States Postal Service. We have since modified the system for use by other countries including Australia.rnThis paper describes the role of knowledge in handwritten AI. An information-theoretic study of address fields is suggested as an aid to AI.