On-line Chinese character recognition using ART-based stroke classification

Abstract

This paper proposes an on-line Chinese character recognition method using Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) based stroke classification. Strokes, primitive components of Chinese characters, are usually warped into a cursive form and classifying them is very difficult. To deal with such cursive strokes, we consider them as a recognition unit and automatically classify them using an ART-2 neural network. The neural network has the advantage of assembling similar patterns together to form classes in a self-organized manner. This stroke classifier contributes to high stroke recognition rate and less recognition time. A database for character recognition also dynamically constructed with generalized character lists, and a new character can be included simply by adding a new sequence to the list. Character recognition is achieved by traversing the Chinese character database with a sequence of recognized strokes and positional relations between the strokes. To verify the performance of the system, we tested it on 1800 basic Chinese characters used daily in Korea, and obtained a good recognition rate of 93.13%. These results suggest that the proposed system is pertinent to be put into practical use.