<title>New method of feature extraction using fractals and wavelets</title>

Abstract

As the interest in fractal geometry rises, the applications are getting more and more numerous in many domains. This paper deals with the problem of recognizing and classification to optical character recognition. For this purpose, we present a new method of feature extraction based on the principles of fractal geometry and wavelet. This allows us to establish a classification of Chinese character in order to apply to each of the isolated categories the most adapt recognition methods. In particular, the proposed method reduces the dimensionality of a two-dimensional pattern by way of a central projection approach, and thereafter, performs Daubechies' wavelet transformation on the derived one-dimensional pattern to generate a set of wavelet transformation sub-patterns, namely, curves that are non-self-intersecting. Further from the resulting non-self-intersecting curves, the divider dimensions are computed with modified box-counting approach. These divider dimensions constitute a new feature vector for the original two-dimensional pattern, defined over the curve's fractal dimensions. We have conducted several experiments in which a set of printed alphanumeric symbols and Chinese characters of varying fonts and orientation were classified, based on the formulation of our new feature vector. The results obtained from these experiments have consistently shown the character recognition method with the proposed feature vector can yield an excellent classification rate 100%.