Character recognition method and apparatus using writer-specific reference vectors generated during character-recognition processing

摘要

Character recognition with an improved recognition ratio is provided without requiring special operations to be performed before character recognition is performed. A preliminary character recognition operation is performed in which the feature vector of an input character is compared to a recognition dictionary that contains a reference vector for each category. The candidate category to which the input character belongs is determined, and the feature vector and recognition result for each input character is saved. The input characters judged to have been recognized with high reliability are selected with reference to their recognition results. The feature vector of each selected input character is used to predict a writer-specific feature vector of a category different from the candidate category to which the selected input character belongs. A writer-specific reference vector is then generated for each category from the writer-specific feature vector of the category, preferably by using the writer-specific feature vector to correct the reference vector for the category. A final character recognition operation is then performed in which the feature vectors of the input characters are compared with the writer-specific reference vectors.