KR20070043926A - Data capture from rendered documents using handheld device - Google Patents

Abstract

Portable devices with scanning, imaging or other data capturing capabilities are described. In some cases, this portable device can indicate to the user when sufficient information has been captured to uniquely identify the source document. In some cases, the portable device calculates timestamps and location stamps indicating when and where data capture occurred. In some cases, the portable device is controlled by the gesture. In some cases, the portable scanning device has associated billing and content / service subscription information.

Portable Device, Scanning, Imaging, Data Capturing, Timestamp, Location Stamp, Gesture, Billing, Content

Description

DATA CAPTURE FROM RENDERED DOCUMENTS USING HANDHELD DEVICE}

The present invention generally relates to a portable data capturing device, and more particularly to a portable device capable of capturing images and / or audio clips.

There is a continuing demand for paper documents, as can be seen from the growing number of paper documents in the computer age. Today it is easier than ever to print and publish paper documents. Although electronic documents are simpler to copy, transcribe, search, and edit, paper documents are still widely used.

Given the popularity of paper documents and the advantages of electronic documents, it would be useful to combine these two advantages.

1 is a data flow diagram illustrating the flow of information in one embodiment of a core system;

2 illustrates the components involved in a typical implementation of a system in the context of a typical operating environment.

3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a scanner;

4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a typical use of a portable scanning device;

5 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a typical portable scanning device;

Fig. 6 is a data structure diagram showing a format for recording data typically used by the present system;

7 is a flow diagram illustrating steps typically executed in the present system to detect and store information about the location and / or time when a document is scanned using a portable device;

8 is a flow diagram illustrating steps typically executed by the present system to detect a user making a circular gesture;

FIG. 9 shows examples of an attempt of a user when performing a circular gesture; FIG.

10 is a flow diagram illustrating steps typically executed by a system to detect a rubbing gesture;

11 is a diagram showing the scanner moving in the rear (right to left) direction of the document;

12 is a block diagram of one system configuration for associating with a portable scanner near a device;

13 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary query session associated with a scanning device and a service provider;

FIG. 14 is an operational flow diagram illustrating interactions typically executed between devices by the system to provide content to a scanner-related device;

15 illustrates a portable scanner for capturing text from two lines of a document;

16 illustrates an embodiment of a convolution for determining a character offset;

17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method for conceptualizing a convolution process;

18 is another explanatory diagram in which a slice copy is shown on top of a copy of the memory to more clearly see why a match is found.

FIG. 19 is a flow diagram illustrating steps typically executed by the present system to execute a convolution process on an image;

20 illustrates a scanner / mouse with a viewing window to represent a surface under the mouse;

FIG. 21 shows a scanner / mouse with a display (LCD, LED, etc.) mounted on top of the housing to allow the user to know what is being scanned;

Fig. 22 is a block diagram of a mouse having separate position-sensing and scanning mechanisms, such as a mouse with a conventional mechanical x / y mechanism, an optical scanner, and the like;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a mouse having an optical sensor assembly that can be used to detect x / y movement from a rendered document and scan data; FIG.

Figure 24 is a side view of the mouse / scanner using a series of mirrors to reflect an image of what is under the scanner head into the viewfinder;

FIG. 25 illustrates an embodiment of a mouse / scanner using an image conduit operatively connected with photosensitive semiconductor chips (CMOS, CCD, etc.);

Fig. 26 is a top view of the mouse / scanner with a viewfinder, which is a window essentially on either side of the scanning mechanism, so that the user can see text passing under the scanning head;

27 is a schematic diagram showing the shape of an exemplary handheld document data capture device;

28 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an annotator;

FIG. 29 illustrates a device typically coupled with a processing device such as a PC via a communication port such as a USB port; FIG.

30 is a block diagram illustrating some of the components typically coupled to at least some of the computer systems and other devices on which the present system is running;

Fig. 31 is a flowchart showing an exemplary process used by the present system for annotating electronic documents.

FIG. 32 is a table diagram illustrating an exemplary annotation table used by the system to represent annotations entered by a user.

summary

A portable device (“device”) for capturing and operating on text contained in a rendered document is described, and in some cases, part of a broader system (“system”) that processes text captured by the portable device. It is described as.

In some embodiments, the portable device with scanning capability informs the user that the user has scanned enough text or other information to recognize the document to be distinguished from the others. In some embodiments, the portable device is an image capture device for acquiring an image, a processor for processing the image, a memory for storing data and / or logic (such as a computer program), an input for communicating with other devices. Includes / output communication interface, power source, illustration source for describing the information being scanned, and location module.

In some embodiments, in addition to or in addition to visual scanning capabilities, the portable device has audio text capture capabilities, allowing the device to capture audio clips while the user is reading aloud from the rendered document. Typically the system derives the text content from the audio text capture operation by applying speech recognition technology to the audio clip.

Although the portable text capture device referred to herein is sometimes specifically related to visual scanning, those skilled in the art can equally apply to portable text capture devices using other text capture techniques such as audio text capture. Will understand.

In some embodiments, text or symbols scanned by the scanner are used to be interpreted as control commands by the control logic or control software of the scanner to cause the scanner to execute a software program, or otherwise specify some predefined action ( For example, deleting data from memory, turning on / off, initiating and / or completing financial interactions, and the like.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner informs the user that sufficient text to identify the document can be scanned so that the electronic copy can be positioned. The portable scanner compares the amount of information scanned with a predetermined threshold level to determine whether enough information has been scanned. (This critical method is particularly useful when the scanner is not communicating with a computer.) When the portable scanner communicates with a remote computer, the remote computer sends a message to the scanner indicating that the text has identified the document being scanned. Can be. In response to receiving this message, the portable scanner informs the user that the document has been identified and that the user can stop scanning. In various embodiments, such notifications are visual (eg, light emitting devices (LEDs), displays, etc.), acoustic (eg, speakers, beepers, etc.), or tactile (stimulating tactile).

In some embodiments, the portable scanner has location and / or time determining capability to store location and / or time information about when and / or where a scan occurs with the scanned data. The time information may be a time stamp of a particular scanning event. The location information may be a location stamp of a particular scanning event.

In some embodiments, the operation of a portable device, such as a portable scanner, is controlled by the characteristics of the scan, such as speed, repeatability, direction, and the like. In addition, the scanner's control program or logic can be reacted to a particular symbol. This particular symbol may be associated with a particular action to be performed by the portable device or a program to be executed.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner may store billing, subscription, and / or device identifier information in memory. Subscription information may be used to authenticate a user's access to an electronic copy of the identified document. Billing information can be used to pay for access to an electronic copy of the identified document. The device identifier can be used as a security feature to help authenticate the user identification.

Part I- Introduction

One. Characteristics of the system

For each of all paper documents having a corresponding electronic counterpart, there is a discrete amount of information in the paper document from which the electronic copy can be identified. In some embodiments, the system identifies and locates an electronic copy of a document using, for example, a sample of text captured in a paper document via a handheld scanner. In most cases, the amount of text required by the device is very small in that some words of the document text can function as an identifier for the paper document and as a link to its electronic copy. In addition, the system can use these few words to identify the document as well as its location within the document.

Thus, the paper document and its digital copy can be associated in many useful ways using the present system described below.

1.1. Brief overview of the outlook

Once the system is set up to associate a portion of the text of a paper document with a particular digital entity, the system can configure a large amount of functionality for that association.

Increasingly, it is true that most paper documents have electronic copies that can be accessed on the World Wide Web or from some other online database or document collection, or by payment or subscription. Then, at the simplest level, when a user scans a few words in a paper document, the system retrieves, displays, emails, purchases, prints, or webpages an electronic document or a portion thereof. Post to As an additional example, by scanning some words in a book that a person is reading during breakfast, the audiobook version in that person's car can start reading from the moment he starts driving to go to work, or print Scanning the cartridge's serial number may initiate a process to instruct replacement.

The system implements many of these and other examples of "paper / digital integration" without requiring changes to the current document reading, printing, and publishing process, thus creating a whole new chapter in digital functionality in such conventionally rendered documents. To provide.

1.2. Terms

Typical use of the system begins with the use of an optical scanner that scans text from a paper document. However, it should be noted that other capture methods from other types of documents may be equally applicable. Thus, the system is sometimes described as scanning or capturing text from a rendered document, which terms are defined as follows:

A rendered document is a printed document or a document shown on a display or monitor. It is also a document recognizable to a person, whether in permanent form or on a temporary display.

Scanning or capturing is a systematic investigation process for obtaining information from a rendered document. This process may include optical capture using a scanner or camera (eg, a camera mounted on a mobile phone), and may include reading the document out loud and moving it to an audio capture device or typing on a keypad or keyboard. See section 15 for more examples.

2. Introduction of this system

This section describes some of the devices, processes, and systems that make up a system for paper / digital integration. In various embodiments, the system implements a wide variety of services and applications on this basic core that provide basic functionality.

2.1. process

1 is a data flow diagram illustrating the flow of information in one embodiment of a core system. Other embodiments may not use all of the steps or components shown herein, and some embodiments may use more.

Typically in optical format by an optical scanner or audio format by a voice recorder, text is captured from the rendered document (100), and this image or sound data can be used to remove artificial elements of the capture process or to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Is handled 102. Recognition process 104, such as OCR, velocity recognition, autocorrelation, or the like, then transforms the data into a signature consisting of text, text offsets, or other symbols in some embodiments. Alternatively, the system performs an alternative form of extracting document symbols from the rendered document. In some embodiments the symbol represents a set of possible text trnascriptions. This process can be influenced by feedback from other steps, for example, if the search process and context interpretation 100 have identified some candidate documents from which the capture originated, possible interpretation of the original capture. ) Is narrowed.

Post-processing 106 takes the output of the recognition process and filters it or otherwise performs other tasks to make it useful. Depending on the embodiment implemented, at this stage some direct action 107 is immediately taken out without reference to a subsequent step, e.g. a phrase or symbol is captured that contains enough information per se to convey the user's intent. do. In this case no digital copy documents need to be referenced and even need not be known to the system.

Typically, however, the next step will be to construct a query or set of queries for use in the search (108). Some aspects of the construction of the query may depend on the search process used, and thus will not be performed until the next step. Typically, however, there may be some actions that can be performed in advance, such as the removal of obviously misrecognized or irrelevant characters.

The query or queries are then passed to a search and context analysis step 110. Here, the system optionally attempts to identify the document in which the original data was captured. To do so, the system typically uses the search index and search engine 112, knowledge of the user 114, and knowledge of the user's context or the context in which the capture occurred. The search engine 112 may use and / or index information about rendered documents, their digital copy documents, and about documents that exist on the web (internet). In addition to reading from many of these sources, it is also possible to record them and, as noted, by providing the recognition system 104 with information about the next possible word based on language, font, rendering, and knowledge of the candidate document, for example. The information can then be fed to the next step in the process.

In some circumstances, the next step is to retrieve 120 the document or copy of documents that have been identified. The source of the document 124 may be accessed directly, for example, from a local filing system or database or web server, or may be connected via some access service 122 that may execute authentication, security or payment, or in a predetermined format. Other services such as document conversion can be provided.

Applications in the system can take advantage of the extra functionality or association of data with all or part of the document. For example, as discussed in section 10.4, an advertising application may utilize the association of a particular advertising message or subject with a portion of the document. This extra associated functionality or data can be considered as one or more overlays on the document, referred to herein as " markup. &Quot; Then, the next step in process 130 is to identify any markup related to the captured data. Such markup may be provided by the user, the creator or publisher of the document, or someone else, and may be accessed directly from some source 132 or generated by some service 134. In various embodiments, markup may be applied to or associated with a rendered document and / or a digital copy of a rendered document, or a group of either or both of these documents.

Finally, as a result of the initial steps, some action is taken 140. These may be default actions, such as simply recording the found information, or may be dependent on data or documents, or may be derived from markup analysis. Sometimes this action is simply passing data to another system. In some cases, various possible actions suitable for capturing a specific point in a rendered document may be displayed on a menu on an associated display, such as a docker versus local display 332, a computer display 212, or a mobile phone or PDA display 216. Will be provided to the user. If the user does not respond to this menu, a default action can be taken.

2.2. Component

2 illustrates the components involved in a typical implementation of a system in the context of a typical operating environment. As shown, the operating environment includes one or more optical scanning capture device 202 or voice capture device 204. In some embodiments, the same device performs both functions. Each capture device may communicate with other parts of the system, such as computer 212 and mobile station 216 (eg, mobile phone or PDA), using either a direct wired or wireless connection or via network 220. Communication using wired and wireless connections typically includes a wireless base station 214. In some embodiments, the capture device is integrated with the mobile station and optionally shares with some of the audio and / or optical components used in the voice communications and photography device.

Computer 212 may have a memory containing computer executable instructions for processing orders from scanning devices 202 and 204. As an example, the order may include an identifier (such as the serial number of the scanning device 202/204 or an identifier that partially or completely distinguishes the scanner user), scanning context information (eg, scan time, scan location, etc.), and And / or include scanning information (such as a text string) used to distinguish the document being scanned from another. In alternative embodiments, the operating environment may include smaller or more components.

In addition, search engine 232, document source 234, user account service 236, markup service 238, and other network services 239 are available on network 220. The network 220 may be an integrated intranet, public internet, mobile phone network or some other network, or any interconnect thereof.

Regardless of how the devices are connected to each other, they can operate according to known commercial transaction and communication protocols (eg, Internet Protocol (IP)). In various embodiments, the functionality and capacity of the scanning device 202, the computer 212, and the mobile station 216 may be fully or partially integrated into one device. Thus, the terms scanning device, computer, and mobile station may refer to the same device, depending on whether the device combines the capabilities and capacities of scanning device 202, computer 212, and mobile station 216. have. Moreover, some or all of the functionality of search engine 232, document source 234, user account service 236, markup service 238, and other network services 239 may be of any device and / or other functionality. It may be implemented on the device shown.

2.3. capture device

As noted above, the capture device may capture text using an optical scanner capable of capturing image data from the rendered document, or using an audio recording device that captures the user reading aloud the text, or using other methods. Can be. Some embodiments of the capture device may capture images, graphic symbols, icons, and the like, as well as machine readable code such as barcodes. The device may be extremely simple to configure as a transducer, some storage, and a data interface, depending on other functionalities located somewhere in the system, or may be a more complete device. For illustration purposes, this section describes devices based on optical scanners and the like with an appropriate number of features.

Scanners are well known devices for capturing and digitizing images. As a class in the copier industry, the first scanner was a relatively large device for capturing an entire document at one time, and recently, portable optical scanners of a convenient type, such as pen-type handheld devices, have been introduced.

In some embodiments, a portable scanner is used to scan text, graphics, or symbols from a rendered document. The portable scanner includes a scanning element that captures text, symbols, graphics, and the like from the rendered document. In addition to documents printed with paper, in some embodiments, the rendered document includes a document displayed on a screen, such as a CRT monitor or LCD display.

3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a scanner 302. Scanner 302 is an optical scanning head 308 that scans information from a rendered document and converts it into machine-compatible data, and typically delivers an image of a lens, aperture, or rendered document to the scanning head. Optical path 306, which is an image conduit for the device. The scanning head 308 may combine a charge coupled device (CCD), a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image device, or other type of optical sensor.

The microphone 310 and associated circuitry converts the sounds of the environment (including the words read aloud) into mechanical signals, and other input functions may also be in the form of other tactile sensors such as buttons, scroll-wheels or touchpads 314. Exists as.

Feedback to the user is possible via a visual display or indicator 332, or through a speaker or other audio transducer 334, and through the vibration module 336.

Scanner 302 includes logic 326 that processes signals received in other formats and / or interpretations and interacts with other various components. Logic 326 may be operable to read and write data and program instructions stored in associated storage 330 such as RAM, ROM, flash, or other suitable memory, and may read time signals from clock unit 328. . Scanner 302 also includes an interface 316 that communicates the scanned information and other signals with the network and / or associated computing device. In some embodiments, scanner 302 may have an on-board power source 332. In another embodiment, the scanner 302 may be powered from a wired connection with another device, such as a universal serial bus (USB) connection.

As an example of the use of the scanner 302, a reader may use the scanner 302 to scan some text in a newspaper article. The text is scanned into the bitmap image through the scanning head 308. Logic 326 causes the bitmap image to be stored in memory 330, with an associated time-stamp read from clock unit 328. Logic 326 may also perform optical character recognition (OCR), or may perform a post-scan process for converting a bitmap image into text. Logic 326 also performs a convolution-like process, e.g., to find repeated occurrences of a character, symbol, or object and to determine the number or distance of another character, symbol, or object between these repeated elements, You can selectively extract symbols from images. The reader can then upload the bitmap image (text or other symbol if the post-scan process is done by logic 326) to the relevant computer via interface 316.

As another example of the use of the scanner 302, the microphone 310 can be used as a voice capture port to allow a reader to capture some text of a newspaper article as an audio file. Logic 326 causes the audio file to be stored in memory 328. Logic 326 may also perform speech recognition or other post-scan process to convert the audio file into text. The reader can then upload the audio file (or text generated by the post-scan process performed by logic 326) to the associated computer via the interface 316 as described above.

Part 2-Overview of the scope of the core system

As paper-to-digital integration becomes more common, there are many aspects of existing technologies that can be changed or better implemented to better utilize this integration. This section covers some of these issues.

3. Search

Searching through collections of documents, even large collections such as the World Wide Web, is now commonplace for ordinary users who use the keyboard to create search expressions entered into search engines. This section and the next section discuss the construction of queries derived from documents rendered by capture and both aspects of the search engine that handle these queries.

3.1. Scan / Speak / Type as Search Inquiry

The use of the system described above typically begins with several words being captured from a document rendered using any of several methods, including those mentioned in section 1.2 above. End-to-end in the system so that document collection is used to extend the recognition process when input needs some interpretation for conversion to text, such as for OCR or voice input. There may be feedback. End-to-end feedback is derived from possible matches in the candidate document by performing an approximation of recognition or interpretation, by identifying one or more sets of candidate matching documents, and then further refine and limit recognition and interpretation. By using the information, it can be applied. Candidate documents may be weighted according to expected relevance (eg, based on the number of people scanned in these documents, or popularity on the Internet), and these weights may be applied in this iterative recognition process.

3.2. Short search

Since the ability to select search queries based on some words becomes very large when the relative positions of the words are known, only a small amount of text may be captured in order for the system to identify the position of the text in the collection. Very generally, adjacent sequences, such as short phrases, can be input text.

3.2.1. Find documents and locations within documents from short text captures

In addition to finding the document from which the phrase originated, the system can identify a location within the document and also take action based on this knowledge.

3.2.2. Alternative way to find location

The system can also use other methods of finding the document and location, such as by using a watermark or other special mark on the rendered document.

3.3. Combine other elements into search queries

In addition to the captured text, other elements (ie, information about the user's identification, profile, and context) may be part of the search query, such as capture time, the user's geographic location and identification, knowledge of the user's habits, and recent activity. Can be formed.

In particular, if these are very recent, other information about document identification and previous capture may form part of the search query.

The identification of the user may be determined from a unique identifier associated with the capturing device and / or biometric or other supplemental information (voice speed, fingerprint, etc.).

3.4. Knowledge of the unreliable nature of search queries (OCR errors, etc.)

The search query can be constructed taking into account the type of error that is likely to occur in the particular capture method used. An example of this is to indicate a suspected error in the recognition of certain characters, in which case the search engine may treat these characters as wildcards or give them lower priority.

3.5. Local cache of indexes for run / offline use

Sometimes the capturing device may not be communicating with search engines or collections when capturing data. For this reason, information that helps offline use of the device may be downloaded to this device in advance or to some entity with which the device communicates. In some cases, much or all of the index associated with the collection may be downloaded. This will be discussed further in Section 15.3.

3.6. Inquiries in any form can be recorded or executed later

If there may be a cost or delay associated with communicating the query or receiving the results, this pre-loaded information can improve the performance of the local device, lower the communication cost, and also be useful and timely. User feedback can be provided.

If no communication is possible (when the local device is "offline"), the query can be saved and sent to the rest of the system when the communication is restored.

In this case, it is important to send a time stamp with each query. Capture time can be a very important factor in interpreting queries. For example, section 13.1 discusses the importance of capture time with respect to previous captures. Note that the capture time is not always the same as the time the query is executed.

3.7. Parallel search

For performance reasons, multiple queries may be initiated in either serial or parallel in response to a single capture. Multiple queries may be sent in response to a single capture, for example, to add new words to the capture or to query multiple search engines in parallel.

For example, in some embodiments, the system sends queries of special indexes for the current document to a search engine on a local machine, to a search engine on a unified network, and to a remote search engine on the Internet.

The result of one particular search may be given a higher priority than the others.

The response to a given query may indicate that a query currently in progress is unnecessary, in which case the query in progress may be canceled before completion.

4. Paper and Search Engines

It is often desirable for search engines that deal with traditional online queries to deal with those that come from the rendered document. Existing search engines can be extended or modified in many ways to make them more suitable for use with the present system described above.

The search engine and / or other components of the system may create and maintain indexes with extra or different characteristics. The system can change incoming paper-derived inquiries, or change the way inquiries are handled in the search for results, so that these paper-derived inquiries are typed into web browsers and other sources. Can be distinguished from In addition, when the results are returned by a search derived from a paper as compared to those from other sources, the system may take different actions or provide different options. Each of these approaches is described below.

4.1. Indexing

Often, the same index can be retrieved using either paper-derived or traditional queries, but the index can be enhanced for use in the current system in a variety of ways.

4.1.1. Knowledge of the paper format

Extra fields can be added to this index that can be helpful in the case of paper-based searches.

Index entry indicating document availability in paper format

The first example is a field indicating that the document is known to be present or distributed in paper form. If the query comes from paper, the system may give higher priority to such documents.

Popular paper format knowledge

In this example, statistical data related to the popularity of the paper documents (and, optionally, to specific areas within these documents), such as the amount of scanning operation, the number of publications provided by the publisher or other sources, etc. are used. It gives higher priority to such documents, and raises the priority of digital copies (eg, for browser-based queries or web searches).

Rendered  Knowledge of the format

Another important example may be to record information about the layout of a particular rendering of a document.

For example, with respect to any particular edition of a book, the index may include information about where the line breaks and page breaks, what fonts are used, and what other capitalizations are common.

The index may also include information about proximity to other items on the page, such as images, text boxes, tables, and advertisements.

Use of Semantic Information about the Original

Finally, semantic information can be inferred from the source markup, but it is not clear in the paper document, for example, that a particular piece of text refers to an item provided for sale, or any particular sentence refers to program code. The fact that it is included can also be recorded in the index.

4.1.2. Index with knowledge of capture methods

The second factor that can change the characteristics of the index is the knowledge of the capture types that may be used. If the index considers characters that cannot be easily distinguished in the OCR process, or contains some knowledge of the fonts used in the document, it would be beneficial to make a search initiated by optical scan. Similarly, if the query comes from speech recognition, an index based on the phoneme of similar sounds will be searched more effectively. Another factor that may affect the use of indexes in the model described above is the importance of iterative feedback during the recognition process. If the search engine can provide feedback from the index as the text is captured, it can greatly improve the accuracy of the capture.

Indexing with Offsets

If the index is likely to be searched using the offset-based / autocorrelation OCR method described above in section 9, in some embodiments, the system stores symbol information of the appropriate offset or index.

4.1.3. Multiple indexes

Finally, in the system described above, it may typically be possible to perform a search over multiple indices. Indexes can be maintained on multiple devices or on converged networks. Some indexes may be downloaded to the capture device, or may be downloaded to a device close to the capture device. Separate indexes may be created for users or groups of users with particular interests, habits, or permissions. An index can exist for each file system, each directory, and even for each file on a user's hard disk. Indexes can be published and subscribed by users and systems. It would then be important to construct indexes that can be distributed, updated, merged, and effectively separated.

4.2. Handling of Inquiries

4.2.1. 것을 Capture is from paper

When the search engine recognizes that the search query comes from a paper document, the search engine can take another action. Search engines can handle queries, for example, in a way that gives them more tolerance for the types of errors that may appear in a particular capture method.

The search engine can infer it from some of the indicators included in the query (such as a flag indicating the nature of the capture), or it can also infer from the query itself (for example, it can recognize errors or uncertainties typical of the OCR process). ).

Alternatively, the query from the capture device may reach the engine by a different connection channel or port or type than from another source, and may be distinguished in that way. For example, some embodiments of the system will send a query to a search engine through a dedicated gateway. Thus, the search engine knows that all queries going through the dedicated gateway are from paper documents.

4.2.2. The use of context

Section 13 below describes various other elements that are outside of the captured text itself but can be of significant help in identifying the document. These include the history of recent scans, the long-term reading habits of a particular user, the geographic location of the user, the user's recent use of a particular electronic document, and the like. These elements are referred to herein as "contexts."

Part of the context can be handled by the search engine itself and can be translated into search results. For example, a search engine may track a user's scan history and may cross-reference this scan history with existing keyboard-based queries. In such cases, the search engine maintains and uses more state information for each individual user than most existing search engines do, and each interaction with the search engine is longer than typical and multiple search It can be thought of as extending across the fields.

Part of the context can be sent to the search engine in search queries (section 3.3) and stored in the engine to serve as part of future queries, so that filters or secondary searches applied to results from the search engine are do.

Data-to search Stream  input

An important input to the retrieval process is the wider context of how the user community interacts with the rendered version of the document-for example, which documents are most widely read and to whom. This is similar to a web search that returns the most frequently linked page or the most frequently selected page from the last search result. See sections 13.4 and 14.2 for a more detailed discussion of this.

4.2.3. Document sub-area

The system described above issues and uses not only information about the document as a whole, but also information about sub-regions of the document, even individual words. Many existing search engines focus on finding files or documents related to a particular query. Search engines that work on finer grains and can even identify locations within a document will provide a significant benefit to the system described above.

4.3. Provided results

The search engine may use some of the additional information it currently maintains to influence the results provided.

The system may also provide the particular document that the user is accessing as a result of just belonging to a paper copy (see section 7.4).

Search engines can also go beyond simple search of text and provide new actions or options suitable for the systems described above.

5. Markup, Annotation, and Metadata

In addition to performing a capture-search-retrieve process, the system described above associates extra functionality with a document, and more specifically with a particular location or segment of text in the document. This extra functionality is often associated with the rendered document due to, but not entirely, its electronic copy. As one example, a hyperlink of a web page may have the same functionality when the print output of that web page is scanned. In some cases, this functionality is not limited to electronic documents, but stored or created elsewhere.

This layer of additional functionality is referred to herein as "markup."

5.1. Overlays , static and dynamic

One way to think about markup is as an "overlay" on a document, which can provide additional information about the document or part of the document, or specify an action associated with the document or part of the document. Markups may include human readable content, but are often intended to be invisible to the user and / or intended for mechanical use only. As such an example, when the user captures text from a specific area of the rendered document or captures an audio sample describing the pronunciation of a particular phrase, there is an option to display a pop-up menu on the nearby display.

5.1.1. Multiple layers available from different sources

Any document can have multiple overlays at the same time and they can be derived from various locations. Markup data may be generated or supplied by the writer, user, or another side of the document.

Markup data may be attached to or embedded in an electronic document. Markup data can be found in conventional locations (eg, where the same document but with a different file name suffix). Markup data may be included in the search results of the query that locates the original document, or may be found by separate queries in the same or different search engines. Markup data can be found using the original captured text and other capture information or contextual information, or can be found using the location of the capture and existing inferred information about the document. Even if the markup itself is not included in the document, the markup data can be found at a location specific to the document.

Similar to the way in which links to conventional html web pages are often embedded as static data in html documents, markup can be mostly static and specific to the document. However, markup may be dynamically generated and / or applied to a large number of documents. One example of dynamic markup is information to which the document is attached, including the latest stock prices of the companies mentioned in the document. One example of markup that is widely applied is translation information that is automatically available in a particular language for multiple documents or sections of the document.

5.1.2. Personal "plug-in" floor

The user can also install markup data or sign its specific source, thus personalizing the system response to a particular capture.

5.2. Keywords and phrases, trademarks and logos

Some elements of a document may have a specific "markup" or functionality associated with them based on their own characteristics rather than location within a particular document. By way of example, there are logos and trademarks that can link the user to additional information about an organization, as well as specific marks printed on the document for purely scanning purposes. The same principle applies to "keywords" or "key phrases" in text. Organizations can register specific phrases they are related to or want to be associated with and attach specific markup that becomes available wherever the phrase is scanned.

Any word, phrase, etc. can have an associated markup. For example, the system may add a particular item to a pop-up menu (eg, a link to an online bookstore) whenever the user captures the word "book" or book title or topic related to the book. In some embodiments of the present system, a digital copy document or an index may be referenced to determine if a capture occurred near the word "book", book title, or topic associated with the book, and the movement of the system may be such a proximity of the keyword element. Will change accordingly. In the above example, note that due to markup, data captured from non-commercial text or documents can cause commercial transactions.

5.3. User -supplied content

5.3.1. User comments and annotations , including multimedia

Annotation is another type of electronic information that can be associated with a document. As an example, a user may attach an audio file of his or her thoughts on a particular document for later retrieval as a voice annotation. As another example of a multimedia annotation, a user may attach a photo to what is called a document. The user supplies annotations for the document but the system can associate annotations from other sources (eg, share other users in the workgroup).

5.3.2. Proof -notes from reading

An important example of user-sourced markup is a paper document annotation as part of proof-reading, editing or reviewing purposes.

5.4. Third -Party Content

As mentioned above, the markup data may be supplied by a third party, such as by another reading agent of the document. Good examples are community-managed information about online discussions and reviewers, specific tasks, translations and explanations by volunteers.

Another example of third-party markup is provided by an advertiser.

5.5. Dynamic markup based on the user 's data stream

By analyzing data obtained from documents by several or all users of the system, markup may be generated based on the activity and interests of the community. An example could be an online bookstore that generates a markup or tells the user that "the person who enjoys this book also enjoys ...". The markup can be less anonymous and can tell the user which person on his contract list has recently read this document. Another example of datastream analysis is included in section 14.

5.6. Markup based on external events and data sources

Markup is often based on data sources and external events, such as input from an integrated database, information from the public Internet, or statistics collected by the local operating system.

The data source may be more local and may provide information about the user's context, such as the user's identity, region, and activity in particular. By way of example, the system can provide a markup layer that can communicate with a user's mobile phone and give the user the option to send a document or call someone recently by phone.

6. Authentication, Personalization and Security

In most situations, the user's identity is known. Sometimes this becomes an "anonymous identity", where the user is identified only by the serial number of the capture device, for example. Typically, a system can be used to personalize the system and it is expected to have a more detailed knowledge of A in order to allow activities and transactions to be performed in the name of the user.

6.1. User history and "lifetime library"

One of the most concise and useful functions that the system can perform is the user's record of the text captured by the user, details of any document found, its location within this document, and any action taken as a result. To retain any additional information related to the capture.

This stored history is beneficial for both the user and the system.

6.1.1 for the user

The user can be given a "life library", which is a record of everything the user has read and captured. This may simply be a personal concern, but may be used in a library by a scholar, for example, collecting data for the section of his next paper.

In some circumstances, a user may wish to publish a library by publishing it on the Web in a similar way to a weblog, so that others can know and read about it.

Finally, if the user acquires some text and the system cannot immediately act on this capture (eg, because an electronic version of the document is still available), the capture can be stored in a library and meet the needs of the user. Accordingly or automatically, afterwards. The user can subscribe to new markup services and apply them to previously captured scans.

6.1.2. For the system

Records of past captures of users are also useful for the system. Many aspects of system operation can be improved by knowing the user's reading habits and history. The most straightforward example is that any scan done by the user is likely to come from the document the user last scanned, especially if the previous scan was done a few minutes before the last one. Similarly, documents are more likely to be read in start-off order, so, for example, in the case of English documents, later scans are more likely to occur farther down in the document. Such factors can help the system locate the capture in the case of ambiguity and can also reduce the amount of text to be captured.

6.2 Scanners such as Payment , Identity and Authentication Defense

Since the capture process begins with some kind of device, such as an optical scanner or voice recorder, the device can be used as a key to identify the user and authenticate certain actions.

6.2.1. Association of scanner with phone or other account

The device may be embedded in the mobile phone or otherwise associated with the mobile phone account. By way of example, the scanner may be associated with a mobile phone account by inserting a SIM card associated with the mobile phone account into the scanner. Similarly, the device may have functionality for a card embedded in or connected to a credit card or other payment card. The device can be used as a payment token and the payment transaction can be initiated by capture from the rendered document.

6.2.2. Use scanner input for authentication

The scanner may also be associated with a particular user or account through the process of scanning for some tokens, symbols or text associated with the user or account. The scanner may also be used for biometric information, for example by scanning a user's fingerprint. In the case of an audio-based capture device, the system may identify the user by matching the user's voice pattern or by requiring the user to speak a certain password or phrase.

As an example, if the user is provided with the option to scan certain quotes from the book or purchase the book from an online merchant, the user may select this option and then prompt to scan the user's fingerprint to confirm the transaction.

Section 15.5. See also 15.6.

6.2.3. Security scanning devices

When a capture device is used to authenticate and identify a user and initiate a transaction on behalf of the user, it is very important that the communication between the device and other parts of the system is secured. It is also very important to protect against situations where other devices band the scanner, or so-called "intermediate" attacks where communication between other components and devices is intercepted.

Techniques for providing such security are well understood in the art; Various embodiments, hardware and software in the device, and elsewhere in the system, are configured to implement such techniques.

7. Model and Element Publishing

The advantage of such a system is that there is no need to change the conventional process of creating, printing and publishing documents in order to take advantage of the system's many advantages. The creator or publisher of the document, hereafter simply referred to as the "publisher", has a reason for wanting to create a function that supports the above system.

This section is mainly related to published documents. See section 10 titled "P-Commerce" for information about other commercial transactions, such as advertisements.

7.1. Electronic companion to the printed document

The system allows the document to have an associated electronic presence. Often, publishers place books on CD-ROMs containing additional digital information, teaching movies, and other multimedia data, sample code or documents, or additional reference materials. In addition, some publishers may have information that may be updated after the time of publication, and certain publications that provide such material, such as typos, additional comments, refined reference materials, indexes, and additional sources of related data, and translations into other languages. Maintain an associated website. Online forums allow readers to comment on publications.

The above system allows such materials to be more closely coupled to the rendered document than before, and their discovery and interaction with them can be made easier for the user. By capturing a portion of the text from the document, the system can automatically connect the user to the digital material associated with the document, more specifically associated with a particular portion of the document. Similarly, a user can be connected to comments and interpretation by an online community that discusses that section of text, and by other readers. In the past, such information would typically need to be filled by searching for a particular page or chapter.

This exemplary application is in the field of academic texts (section 17.5).

7.2. "Sign Up" for Printed Documents

Some publishers may have a mailing list that readers can subscribe to if they want to be notified of new relevant material or if a new edition of the book is published. With the described system, a user can register an interest in a particular document or portion of a document, and even before the publisher considers providing any such functionality. Readers' interests may be provided to publishers and may influence their decisions as to when and when to provide entirely new publications on updates, additional information, new editions, or topics that have been identified as interest in existing books. Can be.

7.3. Printed marks with specific meaning or containing specific data

Many aspects of the system are simply enabled through the use of text already present in the document. If the document is produced under the knowledge that it can be used in conjunction with the system, the extra functionality can be added by printing the extra information in the form of a specific mark, which can be used to identify the text or action required, or Otherwise, it improves the system's interaction with the document. An obvious and most important example is to instruct the reader that the document is clearly accessible through the system. A particular term icon can be used to indicate that the document has an online forum associated with it.

Such symbols may be purely intended for the reader or may be recognized by the system when used and scanned to initiate certain actions. Full data can be encoded into symbols to identify more than symbols; It can also store information about the position of the symbol, the version, the document, which can be recognized and read by the poem.

7.4. Authenticate by owning a paper document

There are some situations in which ownership of or access to a printed document grants a user certain privileges, such as, for example, access to an electronic copy or additional material of the document. With such a system, such privileges can be granted simply as a result of the user capturing a portion of the text from the document, or scanning a particular printed symbol. If the system needs to ensure that the user has owned the entire document, it can prompt the user to scan a particular item or phrase, such as "second line of page 46," from a particular page. .

7.5. Expired documents

If the printed document is a gateway to extra material and functionality, access to such features may be time limited. After the expiration date, the user may be required to obtain a new version of the document to pay a fee or to access such features again. Paper documents are still available, of course, but they lose some of their enhanced electronics. This is advantageous if the publisher receives a fee for access to the electronic material, or if the user sometimes needs to obtain a new version, or is associated with an older version of the printed document that remains during distribution. Because there is, it is hoped.

7.6. Popularity Analysis and Publishing Decisions

Section 10.5 discusses the use of the statistics of the system to influence advertising prices and author compensation.

In some embodiments, the system infers the popularity of the publication from the activity of the paper document as well as the electronic communication book associated with it. These factors assist in making decisions about what to publish in the future of the publisher. If the chapter turns out to be too popular in an existing book, it may be worth expanding to a separate publication.

8. Document Access Service

An important aspect of the described system is to give a user with access to a rendered copy of a document the ability to access an electronic version of that document. In some cases, the document is freely available on a private or public network that the user has access to. The system uses the captured text to identify, detect, and retrieve the document, and in some cases displays it on the user's screen or places it in the user's email box.

In some cases, the document is available in electronic form but may be inaccessible to the user for various reasons. There may not be enough connections to retrieve the document, the user may not have permission to search it, there may be a cost associated with the authority to access it, or the document may be new, just to name several simplicity. It is replaceable with the version and can be withdrawn. The system typically provides feedback to the user about these situations.

As described in section 7.4, the degree or nature of access granted to a particular user may be different if the user already has access to a printed copy of the document.

8.1. Authenticated document access

Access to the document may be limited to a particular user or a user who meets certain criteria, or may only be available in certain circumstances, such as when the user is connected to a secure network. Section 6 describes the user's trust and some ways in which the scanner can be established.

8.2. Buying Documents -Clone-Ownership Reward

Electronic documents, which are freely available in the public, may be accessible as a payment or as a reward for the publisher or copyright holder. The user may implement a payment facility or use a payment method associated with the user, including those described in section 6.2.

8.3 Documentation Escrow and Proactive Search

Electronic documents are often temporary; Digital source versions of the rendered document are currently available but may not be accessible in the future. The system retrieves and stores existing versions on behalf of the user, even if the user is not required, thus ensuring that availability will be available if you request it in the future. It is also available for use of the system, such as searching as part of the process of identifying future captures.

In the case where payment is required for access to a document, a trusted "document escrow" service is such as in the case of payment of the most appropriate fee, with the guarantee that the copyright holder will be fully compensated in the future if the user must request the document from the service. As such, the document can be retrieved on behalf of the user.

Variations on this subject can be implemented if the document is not available in electronic form at the time of capture. The user may authorize the service to make a payment or submit a request for the document on behalf of the user if the electronic document should be available at a later date.

8.4. Associate with other subscriptions and accounts

Sometimes payments may be waived, reduced or met based on an existing association with another account or subscription. Subscribers to the printed version of the newspaper may be automatically entitled to retrieve the electronic version, for example.

In other cases, the association may be less direct; A user may be granted access based on an account established by their employer or based on scanning of a printed copy sourced by a friend who is a subscriber.

8.5 Replacing photocopying with scanning and printing

The process of capturing text from a paper document, identifying an electronic original, and printing a portion or original of the original associated with the capture form an alternative to conventional photocopying with various advantages.

The paper document does not have to be in the same position as the final printed copy, and in any case does not have to be there at the same time.

The photocopying process can prevent wear and damage caused by paper documents, especially old, weak and valuable documents.

The quality of the copy is usually higher.

A record may be kept of which document or part of the document is most frequently copied.

Payment can be made to the proprietor as part of the process.

Unauthorized copying is prohibited.

8.6 positioning valuable originals from photocopy

In particularly valuable cases, such as when documents are legal documents or documents of historical or other specific importance, people often use copies of these documents for four years, while keeping the originals in a safe place.

The described system can be connected to a database that records the location of the original document, such as in a storage warehouse, which facilitates access to the copy to find the original paper document stored by someone.

9. Text Recognition Technology

Optical character recognition (OCR) technology has traditionally focused on images containing large amounts of text, from flat-bed scanners that capture entire pages. OCR techniques often require significant training and correction by the user to produce useful text. While OCR technology often requires significant processing power for machines that perform OCR, many systems use dictionaries, which are expected to operate effectively in infinite terms.

All of the above features can be improved with the system described above.

While this section is focused on OCR, many of the issues discussed map directly to other recognition technologies, especially voice inlets. As described in section 3.1, the process of clinging from the paper is accomplished by the user by reading text into the device capturing the audio. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles described herein for images, fonts, and text fragments often apply to audio samples, user voice models, and phonemes.

9.1 Optimization for the right device

Scanning devices for use in such systems are compact, portable and low power. The scanning device can capture only a few words at a time, and in some implementations may not be able to capture one complete character at a time, while a single horizontal slice can be captured through text, many such horizontal slices being The text together forms a recognizable signal that can be inferred. The scanning device also has very limited processing power or storage and thus may perform all OCR processes in some embodiments, while many embodiments further, if possible, later to convert the captured signal into text. It depends on the connection to a powerful device. Finally, it has very limited functionality for user interaction, and therefore needs to delay any request for subsequent user input, or operate in "best-guessing" mode to a greater extent than now.

9.2 " Uneven " OCR

A major new feature of OCR in such systems is that in general, it can be retrieved in digital form and inspect an image of text present anywhere. Correct transcription of text is not necessarily required from the OCR engine. The OCR system outputs a matrix or set of possible matches including probability weights in some cases, which can be used to search for digital sources.

9.3 Iterative OCR-guessing, disambiguation, speculation ...

If the device performing the recognition can contact the document index during processing, the OCR process can be notified by the contents of the document corpus as it proceeds, potentially providing significantly greater recognition accuracy.

Such a connection allows the device to notify the user if enough text has been captured to identify the digital source.

9.4. Use similar rendering knowledge

This may also assist in the recognition process, such as the font typeface used in the layout or printing of several aspects of a similarly printed rendering of a document, or the font typeface used in printing (section 4.1). One).

9.5. Font caching- font determination on host , download to client

As candidate source text in the document compass is identified, its font, or rendering, can be downloaded to the device to aid in recognition.

9.6. Auto Correct and Character Offset

Whereas the component characters of a text fragment may be the best recognized way of representing a fragment of text that can be used as a document signature, other representations of text may be found when attempting to place the text fragment in a digital document and / or database. In the case of clarifying the representation of the text fragment, or, in a readable form, it can be well represented that the actual text of the text fragment need not be used. Other representations of text fragments can provide the advantage of a lack of actual text representation. By way of example, optical character recognition of text fragments is often an error, unlike other representations of captured text fragments that can be used to navigate to regenerate text fragments without relying on optical character recognition for the entire fragment. It tends to be easy. It may be more appropriate for some devices currently used in the system.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are many ways to describe the appearance of a text fragment. Such characterization of text fragments includes, but is not limited to, the following: word length, relative word length, character height, character width, character type, character frequency, token frequency, and the like. In some embodiments, the offset between the matching text tokens (ie, the number of interference tokens plus one) is used to characterize the fragment of the text.

Conventional OCR uses knowledge of fonts, character structures and forms in an attempt to determine the characters of the scanned text. Embodiments of the invention are different; They employ various ways of using the rendered text itself to assist in the recognition process. These embodiments use characters (or tokens) to “recognize each other”. One example of grading self-awareness is "template matching", which is similar to "convolution". To perform such self-awareness, the system slices a copy of the text horizontally relative to itself and notes the matching area of the text image. Conventional template matching and convolution techniques include a variety of related techniques. Techniques for tokenizing and / or recognizing characters / tokens are used to correlate the characters / tokens with their own components if they match.

In the case of autocalibration, the fully connected region that matches is of interest. This occurs when a character (or group of characters) overlays another instance of the same character (or group). Fully matched regions that match automatically provide tokenization of text within component tokens. As two copies of the text slide past each other, an area is noted where complete matching occurs (ie all pixels of the vertical slice are matched). If a character / token matches itself, it also matches the horizontal range of the match (eg, a linked match of text).

At this stage there is no need to determine the actual identity of each token, i.e. a specific letter, number or symbol, or group thereof, corresponding to the token image, but only an offset for the next occurrence of the same token in the scanned text. Only need to decide. The offset number is the distance (number of tokens) to the next occurrence of the same token. If the token is unique within the text string, the offset is zero. The sequence of token offsets generated in this way is a signature that can be used to identify the scanned text.

In some embodiments, the token offset determined for the string of scanned tokens is compared to an index that indexes the corpus of the electronic document based on the token offset of their content (section 4.1.2). In another embodiment, the token offset determined for the string of scanned tokens is converted to text and compared to a more conventional index that indexes the corpus of electronic documents based on their contents.

As noted above, a similar token-correlation process may be applied to speech fragments when the capture process consists of audio samples of speech words.

9.7. Font / character "self-recognition"

Conventional template-matching OCR compares the scanned image to a library of character images. In essence, the alphabet is stored for each font and the newly scanned image is compared with the stored image to find matching characters. This process continues with an initial delay until the correct font is identified. After that, the OCR process is relatively fast because most documents use the same font throughout. Subsequent images can thus be converted into text by comparison with the recently identified font library.

The most commonly used font's character form is relevant. As an example in most fonts, the letter "C" and the letter "e" are visually related-"t" "f" and so on. The OCR process is enhanced by using the relationship to construct a template for letters that have not yet been scanned. For example, if the reader scans a short string of text from a paper document of a font that has not been previously seen and the system does not have a set of image templates to compare with the scanned image, the system will not see all the letters of the alphabet yet. Possible relationships between certain characters can be leveraged to construct a font template library. The system can then use the configured font template library to recognize subsequent scanned text and to further refine the configured font library.

9.8. Anything not recognized (including graphics) is sent to the server

If the image cannot be machine transcribed into a suitable form for use in the search process, the image may be available for future use by the user on its own, for possible manual transcription, or with different resources available to the system. When possible, it can be archived for later processing.

10. P- Commerce

Many of the actions performed by the system are the result of several commercial transactions occurring. The phrase P-commerce is used herein to describe commercial activities initiated from paper through the system.

10.1. Sale of documents by physically printed copies

When the user captures text from the document, the user is provided with the document for purchase in paper or electronic form. The user is provided with documents that are cited or mentioned in the paper document, or documents by the same author or similar subject matter.

10.2. Sale of those initiated or assisted by paper

Capture of text can be linked to the activity of use in a variety of ways. The captured text can be a catalog designed to sell the item, in which case the text can be very directly related to the purchase of the item (section 18.2). The text may also be part of an advertisement, in which case the sale of the advertised item may continue.

In other cases, users capture other text whose potential interests may be inferred in commercial transactions. Readers of novel sets in a particular country may be interested in the holidays there. The user may capture a particular fragment of text that knows that some commercial opportunity may be presented to them as a result, or it may be ancillary to their capture activity.

10.3. Being sold Item top Capture of labels , icons, serial numbers, barcodes

Sometimes text or symbols are actually printed on an item or on its packaging. For example, the serial number or product id can often be found on a label on the bottom or back of the piece of electronic defense. The system provides the user with a convenient way to purchase one or more identical items by capturing the text.

10.4. Contextual Advertising

In addition to the direct capture of text from an advertisement, the system allows a new kind of advertisement that does not necessarily have to be explicit in the rendered document, but it is nevertheless based on what people read.

10.4.1. Ads based on scan context and history

In conventional paper publishing, advertisements consume a large amount of space relative to the text of a newspaper article, and a limited number of these can be placed around a particular article. In the system described above, advertisements may be associated with individual words or phrases and may be selected according to the particular interests shown by the user by capturing the text and considering their history for past scans.

With such a system, it is possible for advertisers to get a great deal of feedback on the validity of their advertisements for purchases that are closely tied to a particular printed document and for the effectiveness of their advertisement in a particular printed publication.

10.5. Model of compensation

The system enables several new models of rewards for advertisers and marketers. Publishers of printed documents containing advertisements may earn some revenue from purchases generated from their documents. This is true regardless of whether the advertisement is in the original printed form; It can be added electronically by the publisher or by a hard-liner or third party, and the source of such advertisements can be subscribed by the user.

10.5.1. Popularity-based reward

Analysis of the statistics generated by the system may indicate the popularity of the marginal portion of the publication (section 14.2). In a newspaper, it may indicate the amount of time a reader spent looking at a particular page or article, or the popularity of a particular document. In some circumstances, a writer or publisher may be eligible to be rewarded based on the activity of the reader rather than more traditional metrics, such as the number of copies distributed or the words recorded. An author whose work is frequently read for authority on the subject may be sold as a copy of his apparel, but may be considered different in future contracts with a rarely viewed writer.

10.5.2. Popularity-based advertising

The decision about advertising in the document may be based on statistics about the readership. Advertisements around the most popular columnists can be sold at a premium rate. Advertisers can be billed or compensated at certain times after a document is published based on knowledge of how it is accepted.

10.6. Marketing based on lifetime library

The scan history or "lifetime library" described in sections 6.1 and 16.1 can be an extremely valuable source of information about a user's habits or interests. Depending on the appropriate consent and privacy issues, such data notifies the user of the provision of goods or services. Even in the anonymous form, the statistics collected can be very useful.

10.7. Sales / information on later date (when available)

Advertisements and other opportunities for commercial transactions may not be immediately available to the user at the time of text capture. By way of example, the opportunity to purchase a qualifier for a novel may not be available at the time a user reads the novel, but the system may offer them an opportunity if the qualifier is published.

The user may capture data relating to purchases or other commercial transactions, but may not choose to initiate and / or complete the transaction at the time the capture was made. In some embodiments, data relating to capture is stored in a lifespan library, and these lifespan library entries may be in an "active" state (ie, capable of subsequent interaction similar to those available at the time the capture was done). Thus, the user can review the capture at some later point in time and can optionally complete a transaction based on the capture. Because the system can track when and where the original capture occurred, all parties involved in the transaction can be properly compensated. For example, a writer who writes a story-a publisher who published a story-that appears immediately after an advertisement that captures data by the user, selects a particular capture from history, if the user visited their life library six months later, And by purchasing "purchase this item from Amazon" from the pop-up menu (which may be the same as or similar to the menu optionally presented at the time of capture).

11. Operating system and application integration

Modern operating systems (OSs) and other software packages have a number of features that can be beneficially used with the system, and can be modified in various ways to provide a better platform for its use.

11.1. Integration of scan and print-related information in metadata and indexing

New and upcoming file systems and their associated databases often have the ability to store various metadata associated with each file. Typically, this metadata includes such things as the ID of the user who created the file, creation date, last modification, and last use. Newer file systems allow extra information such as keywords, image features, document sources and user comments to be stored and in some systems this metadata can be extended to arbitrary. The file system can therefore be used to store information useful for implementing the current system. By way of example, data may be stored by the file system when a given document was last printed, as the data may be used to describe in detail which text and from whom was captured from the paper using the system.

The operating system also begins incorporating search engine functionality that allows the user to more easily find local files. These functions can be beneficially used by the system. That means that many of the search-related concepts discussed in sections 3 and 4 apply to all personal computers as well as to today's Internet-based and similar search engines.

In some cases, a particular software application will include a set of capabilities provided by the OS and support for the system beyond it.

11.2. capture OS support for devices

As the use of capture devices, such as pen scanners, is becoming more common, it is desirable to build a support system into the operating system in much the same way as the support provided for mice and printers, where the applicability of the capture device may be limited to a single software application. Because it extends beyond. The same is true for other aspects of the operation of the system. Some samples are described below. In some embodiments, the entire described system, or key portion thereof, is provided by the OS. In some embodiments, support for the system is provided by application programming interfaces (APIs) that can be used by other software packages, including directly implementing aspects of the system.

11.2.1. Support for OCR and Other Recognition Technologies

Most methods for capturing rendered documents require some recognition software to interpret the source data, such as scanned images or some spoken words, such as text suitable for use with the system. Some OSs include support for voice or handwriting recognition, although it is less common for the OS to include support for OCR, since the use of OCR in the past has been limited to a small range of applications.

As the recognition component becomes part of the OS, they can take advantage of the other facilities provided by the OS. Most systems include spelling dictionaries, grammar analysis tools, phraseization and localization facilities, all of which can be beneficially employed by the system for the recognition process of the system, as they are specific users. Can be customized for a particular user to include words and phrases that are often encountered.

If the operating system includes a full-text indexing facility, these may also be used to inform the recognition process, as described in section 9.3.

11.2.2. Actions to be Taken for Scanning

If an optical scan or other capture occurs and is given to the OS, it has a default action to be taken under circumstances where no other system claims ownership of the capture. Examples of default actions are to present an alternative option to the user or to send captured text to the OS's built-in search facility.

11.2.3. OS has default actions for specific documents or document types

If a digital source of a rendered document is found, the OS may have a standard action to be taken when that particular document or class of documents is scanned. Applications and other subsystems can register ODs as potential handlers for certain capture types, in a manner similar to broadcast by applications for their ability to handle certain file types.

The markup data associated with the rendered document, or capture from the document, may include instructions to launch a particular application to the operating system and pass application arguments, parameters, data, and the like.

11.2.4. Into a standard action Mapping and Interpreting Gestures

The use of "gestures" is described in section 12.1.3, and especially in the case of optical scanning, the place where a particular move is made with the handheld scanner represents a standard action, such as marking the beginning and end of an area of text.

This is similar to an action, such as using the cursor keys to select an area of text, or pressing the shift key on the keyboard while using the whee on the mouse to scroll the document. Such actions by the user are sufficiently standard that they are hacked in a system-wide manner by the OS, thus ensuring a constant action. The same action is desirable for scanner gestures and other scanner-related actions.

11.2.5. Set response to standard (and non-standard) icons / text printed menu items

In the same way, items of text or other symbols of text cause standard actions to occur when scanned, and the OS can provide a choice for them. By way of example, scanning the text "[print]" in any document may allow the OS to retrieve and print a copy of that document. The OS provides a way to register such actions and associate them with a particular scan.

11.3. Support in system GUI components for typical scan-initiated activities

Most software applications are based on standard graphical user interfaces provided by the OS.

The use of these components by the developer is, for example, as pressing the left-cursor in any text-editing context moves the cursor to the left, without all programmers independently implementing the same functionality. It helps to ensure consistent behavior across multiple packages.

Similar consistency in these components is desirable when the activity is initiated by a text-capture or other aspect of the system described above. Some examples are given below.

11.3.1. Interface for finding specific text content

Typical use of this system may be scanning a portion of a paper document for a user, opening an electronic counterpart in a software package that can be displayed or manipulated for the system, scrolling and scanning the scanned text. May be highlighted (section 12.2.1.). The first part of this process of discovering and opening electronic documents is typically provided by the OS and is standard throughout the package. However, the second part, which places a particular part of the text in the document and causes the package to scroll and highlight it, has not yet been standardized and is often implemented differently by each package. The availability of standard APIs for this function significantly improves the motivation of this aspect of the system.

11.3.2. Text interaction

If a piece of text is located in a document, the system will want to perform various actions on that text. By way of example, the system may require surrounding text, so the user's capture of several words results in accessing the entire sentence or paragraph containing them in the system. Again, this functionality can be usefully provided by the OS rather than being implemented in every piece of software that handles text.

11.3.3. Contextual ( popup ) menu

Some of the operations enabled by the system require user feedback, which may be optimally desired within the context of the data handler. In some embodiments, the system typically uses an application popup menu associated with clicking the right mouse button over some text. The system inserts extra options into such menus and allows them to be displayed as a result of the activity as scanning a paper document.

11.4. Web / network interface

In today's growing networked world, most of the functionality available on individual machines can be accessed through the network, and the functionality associated with such systems is no exception. As an example, multiple paper documents received by a user in an office environment may be printed by other users' machines on the same joint network. In response to the capture, a system on one computer may, depending on the appropriate permission controls, query the other machine for a document that may correspond to the capture.

11.5. Printing of Documents That Cause Archiving

One important factor in the integration of paper and documents is to keep as much information as possible about the conversion between the two. In some embodiments, the OS maintains a single record of when the document was printed by Luke. In some embodiments, the OS takes one or more actions that make it more suitable for use of the system. Examples include the following:

Keep a digitally rendered version of every printed document with information about the source from which the document was printed.

Keep a subset of useful information about the printed version, as well as the fonts used and where line breaks occurred, as an example to aid future scan interpretation.

Keep a version of the source document associated with any printed copy;

Automatically index documents when printing and saving results for future navigation

11.6. My (Printed / Scanned ) Documents

The OS often maintains a certain category of files or folders of particular importance. The user's document can be found by way of design or by way of example in the "My Documents" folder. The standard file-open dialog may automatically include a list of recently opened documents.

On an OS optimized for use with such a system, such categories can be enhanced or augmented in a manner that takes into account the user's interaction with the paper version of the stored file. Categories such as "My Documents" or "My Recently-Read Documents" can be usefully identified and incorporated into their operation.

11.7. OS-level markup hierarchy

Since the critical aspects of the system are provided using the "markup" concept discussed in Section 5, it would be beneficial to have a support mechanism for such markup provided by the OS in a manner that was accessible to the OS itself and multiple applications. Further, the layers of markup may be provided by the OS, based on the functionality that the OS can provide and its knowledge of the document under its control.

11.8. Use of OS DRM Features

The growing number of operating systems includes "digital rights management"; It supports some form of software entity or machine control over the use of specific data, depending on the privileges granted to specific users. As an example, unauthorized copying or distribution of certain documents may be prohibited.

12. User Interface

The user interface of the system may be entirely on the PC if the capture device is relatively poorly functioning or connected by cable, or it may be entirely on the device if it is sophisticated or itself has significant processing power. Some or all of the functionality of the system may be implemented on other devices such as mobile phones or PDAs.

The description in the next section is about what implementation may be desirable, but it is not necessarily appropriate in all cases and can be modified in many ways.

12.1. capture On the device

With all capture devices, but especially in the case of optical scanners, the user's attention is generally placed on the device and on the paper during scanning. The feedback and any input required as part of the scanning process is preferably not required to distract the user beyond what is necessary, such as on a screen of a computer, for example.

12.1.1. Feedback by the scanner

Handheld scanners have a variety of ways of providing feedback to the user about specific conditions. The most obvious type is the direct visual type when the scanner has an indicator light or full display, and an audible type when the scanner has an alarm, click or other sound. An important alternative is tactile feedback, in which case the scanner simulates vibration, beeps, or otherwise the user's touch sense, and projection feedback indicating the state by stripping something from the colored light spot to the sophisticated display. It includes.

Important direct feedback that may be provided to the device includes the following.

Feedback by the scanning process-the user's scanning is overspeed, too large an angle, or drifting too high or too low on a particular line

Sufficient content-important for disconnect actions-if a match exists, the discovery of one match has been scanned sufficiently to ensure a certain degree

Known context-source of text found

Known Unique Context-One unique source of text was found

Availability of content-an indication of whether the content is available to the user for free or for a fee

For example, if there is sufficient performance to display some or all of the document, much of the user interaction normally associated with later stages of the system may occur at the capture device.

12.1.2. Scanner control

The device may provide a variety of methods for the user to input in addition to basic text capture. Even when the device is closely associated with a host device having input options such as a keyboard and a mouse, it may be disruptive for the user to switch back and forth between, for example, operating the scanner and using the mouse.

Handheld scanners may include buttons, scroll / jog wheels, touch sensitive surfaces, and / or accelerometers for sensing device movement. Some of these enable a richer set of interactions while still maintaining the scanner.

For example, in response to scanning any text, the system provides the user with some possible set of matching documents. The user selects one of the lists using the scroll wheel on the side of the scanner and confirms the selection by clicking the button.

12.1.3. gesture

The main reason for moving the scanner in the middle of the paper is to capture text, but some movements can be detected by the device and used to indicate other intentions of the user. This movement is referred to herein as a gesture.

For example, a user may indicate a large area of text by scanning the first few words in conventional left-right order and the last few words in reverse, ie right-left order. The user may also indicate the vertical range of the target text by moving the scanner down the page a few lines up. The scan may then indicate the cancellation of the previously scanned operation.

12.1.4. Online / offline behavior

Many aspects of the system may rely on network connectivity between the system components, such as scanners and host laptops, or with the outside world in the form of connections to company databases and Internet searches. However, it will be the case that such connectivity may not always exist and thus may be considered to be "offline" of some or all of the system. It is desirable to keep the system useful in this situation.

The device can be used to capture text when not in contact with another part. Very simple devices can simply store image or audio data associated with a timestamp that ideally indicates when it was captured. When the device is in contact with the rest of the system, various captures can be uploaded here and then processed. The device may also upload other data associated with the capture, such as voice annotations or location information associated with the optical scan.

More complex devices can perform some or all of the system's operations themselves, even when not connected. Various techniques for improving the performance of this are described in Section 15.3. Sometimes some but not all of the desired actions can be performed while offline. For example, text may be recognized, but source identification may be dependent on a connection with an internet based search engine. Thus, in some embodiments, the apparatus stores enough information about how much each operation has progressed so that the rest of the system proceeds effectively when the connection is restored.

The operation of the system is generally useful by means of ready-to-use connections, but there are some situations where it may be beneficial to take some captures and process them in batches. For example, as described in section 13 below, the identification of a particular capture source can be greatly enhanced by examining other captures performed by the user at about the same time. In a fully connected system where live feedback is provided to the user, past captures can only be used when the system processes the current capture. However, if the capture is one of the batches saved by the device when offline, the system may consider any data available from previous and subsequent captures when performing this analysis.

12.2. As host device

Scanners often communicate with some other device such as a PC, PDA, telephone or digital camera to perform many of the functions of the system, including more detailed interactions with the user.

12.2.1. Action taken in response to capture

When the host device receives the capture, it can initiate various operations. Following locating, there is an incomplete list of possible actions the system has performed, along with a copy of the electronic document and location within the document associated with this capture.

● Detailed information of the capture can be stored in the user history (Section 6.1).

● Documents can be retrieved from local storage or remote (section 8).

Update the metadata of the operating system and other records associated with the document (section 11.1);

• You can examine the markup associated with the document to determine the appropriate action to follow (section 5).

● Launch a software application to perform document editing, viewing, or other operations. Application selection depends on the content of the source document or scan, or on some other aspect of capture (Sections 11.2.2, 11.2.3).

● You can scroll through the application to highlight it, move the insertion point, or indicate the capture location (section 11.3).

You can modify the exact boundaries of the captured text, for example to select whole words, sentences or phrases around the captured text (section 11.3.2).

● Give the user the option to copy the capture text to the clipboard or to perform other standard operating systems or application specific actions on it.

● You can associate comments with documents or captured text. This may be done directly through user input or may have been captured first in the case of a voice annotation, eg associated with an optical scan (section 19.4).

Markup can be examined to determine another possible set of actions for the user to select.

12.2.2. Context popup menu

Sometimes the proper action the system takes is clear, but in some cases it's up to the user. One good way to do this is to use a "pop-up menu" or, if the content is displayed on the screen, a so-called "context menu" that appears close to the content (see section 11.3.3). In some embodiments, the scanner device displays a pop-up menu on the paper document. The user may interact with the computer display using a scanner, either from a menu using traditional methods such as a keyboard and mouse, or by using controls on the capture device (section 12.1.2), by using gestures (section 12.1.3), or by using a scanner. It can be chosen by action (Section 12.2.4). In some embodiments, the popup menu that may appear as a result of the capture includes a default item that appears if the user does not respond, e.g., an action that occurs when the user ignores the menu and performs another capture.

12.2.3. Feedback on clarification

When the user initiates text capture, there will be some document or other text location that can be matched first. As more text is captured and other factors are taken into account (Section 13), the number of candidate locations is reduced until the actual location is identified or no further clarification is possible without user input. In some embodiments, the system displays in real time the locations found for the number of elements in the display in the form of a document or for example in the form of a list, thumbnail image or text segment and to reduce the number as capture continues. In some embodiments, the system displays thumbnails of all candidate documents, the size and position of which thumbnails depend on the probability of an exact match.

Once the catcher is clearly identified, it can be emphasized to the user, for example using audio feedback.

Sometimes the captured text will appear in many documents and will be recognized as a quotation. The system may indicate this on the screen, for example, by grouping documents containing cited references around the original source document.

12.2.4. Scanning from the screen

Some optical scanners can capture text displayed on the screen as well as paper. Thus, the term 'rendered document' is used herein to indicate that paper prints are not the only form of rendering and that the capture of text or symbols for use in the system may also be equally valuable when the text is displayed on an electronic display. do.

The user of such a system may need to interact with the computer screen for a variety of different reasons, such as selecting a list of options. It may be inconvenient for the user to place the scanner and initiate it using a mouse or keyboard. While other sections have described the physical controls of a scanner (described in section 12.1.2) or a gesture (described in section 12.1.3) as a way to enter these tools without having to change them, some text can be obtained using the scanner on the screen itself. B Scanning symbols is an important alternative provided by this system.

In some embodiments, the optics of the scanner can be used in the same manner as the light pen, so that with the help of the special hardware or software of the computer, the position on the screen can be detected directly without the need to actually scan the text.

13. Context Description

An important aspect of the system is that it uses other factors beyond simple capture of text strings to help identify the documents used. Capturing an appropriate amount of text will often uniquely identify the document, but in many cases will identify some candidate documents. One solution is to allow the user to confirm the document being scanned, but the preferred alternative is to use other factors that automatically narrow down the possibilities. Such supplemental information can significantly reduce the amount of documents requiring capture and / or significantly increase the reliability and speed with which the location of the electronic copy can be identified. This extra material is called "context" and is briefly described in Section 4.2.2. We will look deeper later.

13.1. System and capture context

Perhaps the most important example of this information is the user's capture history.

It is likely that a given capture comes from the same document as the previous one, or especially from the associated document if the previous capture occurred in the last few minutes (section 6.1.2). Conversely, if the system detects that the font has changed between two scans, it is likely that it is from another document.

The user's long-term capture history and reading habits are also useful. It can also be used to develop a model of interest and association of users.

13.2. User's Real Context

Another example of a useful context is the user's geographic location. For example, users in Paris are much more likely to read Le Monde than the Seattle Times. Thus, the timing, size, and geographical distribution of the printed version of the document can be important and can be speculated to some extent in the operation of the system.

For example, the time of day may also be relevant for a user who always reads one type of publication while going to work and who reads something else on the train during lunchtime or leaving home.

13.3. Related digital context

User's recent use of electronic documents, including those searched and retrieved by more conventional means, may also be useful indicators.

In some cases, such as a corporate network, other factors can be considered useful:

● Has the document been recently printed?

● Has the document been recently modified on a corporate file server?

● Has the document been recently emailed?

All of these examples may imply that the user is likely to read more paper version documents. Conversely, if a canteen with a document can be sent to any place where it may have been printed or can be confirmed that the document has never been printed, it can be safely removed from any search originating from the paper.

13.4. Miscellaneous Statistics-Global Context

Section 14 covers the analysis of data streams from paper-based retrieval, but here all of the statistics on the reputation of documents with other readers, the timing of those reputations, and some of the documents that are most frequently scanned may be useful for the retrieval process. It should be recognized that this is an example of more factors. The system enables Google to rank pages in the paper world.

See also Section 4.2.2 for some other meanings of the context for search engines.

14. Data string analysis

As a side effect of the use of this system, it generates excessively valuable data streams. This data string is a record of what the user reads when and in many cases a record of what the user finds especially valuable in what they are reading. Such data has never been truly available in paper documents before.

Some of the ways in which this data can be useful for the system and its use are described in Section 6.1. This section focuses on other uses. Of course there are important privacy issues that can be considered as any data distribution to what people are reading, but issues such as preserving the anonymity of the data are well known to those skilled in the art.

14.1. Document tracking

If the system knows which document a given user is reading, the system can also infer who is reading a given document. This enables tracking of documents throughout the organization, for example, who reads the document, how widely distributed it takes, how long it takes to distribute, and who has seen the current version while others are working on it from an outdated copy. Enable analysis.

For published documents with a wider distribution, tracking individual copies is more difficult, but analysis of the distribution of readership is still possible.

14.2. Reading ranking-popularity of documents and subregions

In situations where a user captures text or data of particular interest to them, the system can infer the popularity of a particular document and the popularity of a subregion of that document. This forms valuable input to the system itself (Section 4.2.2) and important sources of information for writers, publishers and advertisers (Section 7.6, 10.5). Such data can also be integrated in search engines and search indexes, for example, to help rank search results for queries from rendered documents, and / or to rank prior queries typed within a web browser. Useful when

14.3. User Analysis-Profile Creation

Knowing what the user is reading allows the system to generate a fairly detailed model of the user's interests and activities. This may be useful for a general statistical basis—for example, it may enable other interactions with individual users, as described below, such as “35% of users who purchase such newspapers also read the author's recent books”. .

14.3.1. Social networking

One example is to connect one user with another person with a related interest. This may be a person already known to the user. The system can ask a university professor, "Did you know your colleague at XYZ University is reading this paper?" The system may ask the user, "Do you also want to connect with your neighbor who is reading Jane Air?" This connection can be the basis for the automatic formation of intimate social structures with book clubs, both in the physical world and online.

14.3.2. Marketing

In Section 10.6, we have already mentioned the idea of providing products and services to individual users based on their interaction with the system. For example, current online book sellers often recommend users based on their previous interactions with the book seller. This recommendation becomes even more useful when based on the actual interaction with the book.

14.4. Marketing based on other aspects of the data stream

Some of the ways in which the system can affect the publishing of documents, the advertising of the documents, and other sales initiated by paper have been described (v. 10). Some commercial activities eventually do not have direct interaction with paper documents, but may be affected. For example, it may be of interest to a person trying to do a health club to know that people in one community spend more time reading the sports sector than the financial sector of the newspaper.

14.5. Data types that can be captured

In addition to the above statistics, such as who reads what extent and when of a document, it may be of interest to examine the actual content of the captured document regardless of whether the document is located.

In many cases, the user will not only capture some documents but also cause some activity to occur as a result. This could be, for example, emailing a reference to a document to an acquaintance. It is very useful to know that someone considered this document worth sending an email even when no user or email recipients were identified.

In addition to the various methods described for inferring the value of a particular document or portion of text, in some cases the user will externally indicate the value by assigning a rating to it.

Finally, if a particular set of users is known to form a group, such as if the users are known to an employee of a particular company, then the collective statistics of that group can be used to infer the importance of a particular document for that group.

15. Device features and functions

A capture device for use with the system only needs a way of capturing text from the rendered version of the document. As noted above (section 1.2), such capture can be performed through a variety of methods, including taking a picture of a portion of the document or typing some characters on a mobile phone keyboard. Such capture may be performed using a small handheld optical scanner capable of recording one line or two text at a time, or using a voice capture device such as a voice record in which the user reads text from a document. The device used can be a combination of these, such as an optical scanner, which can also record voice annotations, and the capturing function can be embedded in some other device such as a mobile phone, PDA, digital camera or portable music player.

15.1. I / O

Many useful additional I / O devices for this device are described in Section 12.1. It includes buttons, scroll wheels and touch pads for input and a display, indicator light, voice and tactile transducers for output. Sometimes the device may add most or little of them. Sometimes the capture device will be able to communicate with other devices already equipped with it, for example using a wireless link (section 15.6), and sometimes a capture function will be added to this other device (section 15.7).

15.2. Connectivity

In some embodiments, the apparatus implements most of the system itself. However, in some embodiments, the device often communicates with a PC or other computing device and uses a communications facility to communicate with the wider world.

Typically, these communication facilities are in the form of general-purpose data networks such as Ethernet, 802.11, or UWB, or in the form of standard peripheral networks such as USB, IEEE-1394 (Firewire), Bluetooth ^™, or infrared. When a wired connection such as Firewire or USB is used, the device can be supplied with electricity through the connection. In some cases, the capture device may appear on a connected machine and become a conventional peripheral such as a USB storage device.

Finally, the device may in some cases be used in conjunction with this device or "dock" with another device for convenient storage.

15.3. Caching and Other Online / Offline Features

Sections 3.5 and 12.1.4 dealt mainly with separate operations. If the capture device does not communicate with other parts of the system with a limited subset of the overall system functionality, the device may still be useful even if the available functionality is sometimes reduced. In the simplest step, the device can record the original image or audio data to be captured and this can then be processed. However, for the user, feedback where possible about whether the captured data is likely to be sufficient for handwork, whether it can be recognized or likely to be recognized, and whether the data source can be identified or later identified. It may be important to provide The user will then know whether the capturing activity is valuable. Even if all of the above is unknown, the raw data can still be stored and thus at least the user can refer to it later. The user may be provided with the scanned image, for example, when the scan cannot be recognized by the OCR process.

To illustrate some of the range of options available, rather the following describes a minimal optical scanning device and then a much more full-featured scanning device. Many devices occupy a midpoint between these two.

15.3.1. Simple Scanner-Affordable Offline Example

Simple scanners have a scanning head that can read pixels on the page as they travel along the length of the text line. It can detect motion along the page and record pixels with some information about this motion. It also has a clock that allows each scan to be time stamped. The clock is synchronized with the host device when a simple scanner is connected. The clock cannot represent the actual time of the day, but relative time can be determined so that the host can infer the actual time of the scan or, in the worst case, the elapsed time between scans.

Simple scanners do not have enough processing power to perform OCR itself, but they do have some basic knowledge of their relationship to typical word length, word spacing, and font size. This tells the user when the scan may be readable, whether the head is moving too quickly, too slowly or too inappropriately across the paper, and when enough words of a certain size may have been scanned for the document to be identified. It contains some basic indicator lights.

Simple Scanner has a USB connection and can be plugged into a USB port on your computer, where it will be charged. On the computer, a simple scanner appears to make the time stamped data file a Grogodin USB storage device, and the rest of the system software takes over from this point.

15.3.2. Super Scanner-Advanced Offline Example

Superscanners also depend on connectivity for their overall operation, but this has a significant amount of onboard storage and processing that can help make better judgments about the data captured while offline.

As the superscanner moves along a line of text, the captured pixels are stitched together and passed to an OCR engine that attempts to recognize the text. Many fonts, including those from the user's most read publications, are downloaded and synchronized with the user spelling checker dictionary on the PC, thus helping to do this, as they have a dictionary containing many words that the user frequently encounters. Gives. In addition, a list of words and expressions with frequency of use can be stored on the scanner, which can be combined with a dictionary. The scanner can use frequency statistics to aid in the recognition process and to inform the decision as to when a sufficient amount of text was captured. More frequently used expressions are likely to be less useful as the basis for search queries.

In addition, a full index of the most commonly read newspapers and articles of the latest issue of the periodical is stored on the device as if it were an index of the books you recently purchased from an online book seller or if you scanned something in the last few months. Save it. Finally, the titles of thousands of the most popular publications with data available to the system are stored so that when there is no other information, the user can scan the title and capture from a specific task can then be retrieved electronically. You can have a good idea about the same thing.

During the scanning process, the system informs the user that the captured data is of sufficient quality and that the electronic copy has sufficient characteristics to be retrieved when the connection is restored. Often the system is informed to the user that the scan was successful and the context was recognized in one of the onboard indexes, and the publication of interest also informs that the data is known to be available in the system and that a subsequent, search must be successful.

Superscanners dock to cradles connected to a PC's FireWire or USB port, and in addition to uploading captured data, various onboard indexes and other databases are updated based on recent user activity and new publications. Also provided is a device for connecting to a wireless public network or for communicating with a mobile phone via Bluetooth, which device can communicate with the public network when available.

15.4. Structure for Optical Scanning

Some structures that may be particularly desirable for optical scanner devices are discussed below.

15.4.1. Flexible positioning and convenient optics

One reason why paper continues to be popular is that it is convenient to use in a variety of situations, for example, where computers are not practical or inconvenient. Thus, a device for capturing a significant portion of the user's interaction with the paper must likewise be easy to use. In the past, this was not the case with scanners, and even the smallest handheld device was somewhat unwieldy. Designed to come into contact with the page had to be kept at a precise angle with the paper and moved very accurately along the length of the text to be scanned. This may be acceptable when scanning a business report on an office desk, but may be impractical when scanning a novel's expression while waiting for a train. Scanners based on camera type optics operating at a distance from paper may likewise be useful in some situations.

Some embodiments of the system use a scanner that uses an image conduit, which is an optical fiber bundle, to scan in contact with paper and transfer an image from a page to an optical sensor device instead of a lens. Such a device may be configured to be held in its natural location. For example, in some embodiments, the portion that is in contact with the page is wedge shaped, which may allow a user's hand to move more naturally on the page in the same motion as using a highlighter pen. The conduit may be in direct contact with or in close contact with the paper and have a replaceable transparent tip that may protect the image conduit from possible damage. As described in Section 12.2.4, the scanner can be used to scan from the screen as well as paper and the tip material can be selected to reduce the likelihood of damage to these displays.

Finally, some embodiments of the device instruct the user by using light, sound or tactile feedback when the user scans too quickly, too slowly, too non-uniformly or drifts too high or too low on the scanning line during the scanning process. something to do.

15.5. Security, Identification, Authentication, Personalization, and Billing

As described in section 6, the capture device may form an important part of the identification and authentication for secure transactions, purchases, and various other operations. Thus, in addition to the circuitry and software required for this role, a variety of hardware architectures can be added to enhance security, such as smart card readers, RFID, or keypads for typing PINs.

It may also include various biometric sensors to aid in user identification. For example, in the case of an optical scanner, the scanning head may read a fingerprint. The voice pattern of the user can be used for the voice recorder.

15.6. Device association

In some embodiments, the device may form an association with other nearby devices to increase itself or their functionality. For example, in some embodiments, the display of a nearby PC or phone is used or a network connection is used to provide more detailed feedback on this operation. On the other hand, the device may serve as a security and identification device for acknowledging an operation performed by another device. It can also simply form an association to function as a peripheral of the device.

An interesting aspect of this association is that it can be initiated and authenticated using the capture device of the device. For example, a user who wants to securely identify himself or herself to a public computer terminal may use the scanning device of the apparatus to scan a code or symbol displayed on a specific area of the screen of the terminal to validate key transmission. A similar process can be performed using the speech signal extracted by the speech recording device.

15.7. Integration with other devices

In some embodiments, the functionality of the capture device is integrated with some other device already in use. The integrated device can share power supply, data capture and storage capacity, and network interface. Such integration may be performed simply for convenience, to reduce costs, or to enable functionality that would not be available without such integration.

Some examples of devices in which the capture function may be integrated are as follows.

● Traditional peripherals such as a mouse, stylus, USB "webcam" camera, Bluetooth ^TM headset or remote control

• Other processing / storage devices such as PDAs, MP3 players, voice recorders, digital cameras or mobile phones.

● Watches, jewelry, pens, car key ornaments, etc.

15.7.1. Mobile phone integration

As an example of the benefits of integration, we look at the use of a modified mobile phone such as a capture device.

In some embodiments, the phone hardware may be processed by the phone itself, or processed by the system at the other end of the phone call or the memory of the phone for future processing, if text capture can be properly performed through speech recognition. It is not modified to support the system as it can be stored within. Many modern phones have the ability to download software to implement part of the system. However, such speech capture may be the next best option, for example in many situations with significant background noise, and even when accurate speech recognition is optimal. Audio devices can be optimally used to capture voice annotations.

In some embodiments, cameras embedded in many mobile phones are used to capture images of text. The phone display, which normally serves as the camera's viewfinder, can superimpose information on the quality of the image and suitability for the OCR in which the segment of text is captured and a copy of the text onto the live camera image if the OCR can be carried out.

In some embodiments, the phone is modified to provide this functionality with a separate Bluetooth connected peripheral or clip-on adapter that adds or communicates with a dedicated capture device. Whatever the nature of the capture mechanism, integration with modern mobile phones offers many other advantages. The phone has a wider world connection, which means that queries can be provided to remote search engines or other parts of the system and documents can be retrieved for immediate storage or viewing. Telephones generally have sufficient processing power to allow many of the system's functions to be performed locally and sufficient storage to capture a reasonable amount of data. The amount of storage can also often be extended by the user. The telephone has a reasonably good display and voice device to provide a vibration function for user feedback and tactile feedback. It also has a good power supply.

Most importantly, the phone is a device that most users already carry.

Section III-Application Examples

This chapter describes the use of the system and a list of possible applications. This list is purely illustrative and not exclusive.

16. Personal Application

16.1. Life library

The Life Library (see Section 6.1.1) is a digital archive of any important document that the subscriber wishes to store and is a set of embodiments of the services of the system. Important books, magazine articles and newspaper clippings can all be stored digitally in the Life Library. In addition, it is possible to store the subscriber's comments, comments, and notes with the document. The Life Library can be accessed via the Internet and the World Wide Web.

The system creates and manages a life library document archive for subscribers. The subscriber indicates what documents he or she wishes to store in his or her life library by scanning information from the document or by instructing the system to add a particular document to the subscriber's life library. The scanned information is typically text from a document, but can also be a barcode or other code that identifies the document. The system accepts this code and uses it to identify the source document. After the document is identified, the system can store a copy of the document in the user's life library or a link to a source from which the document can be obtained.

One embodiment of the life library system may verify that a subscriber is authorized to obtain an electronic copy. For example, if a reader scans text or identifiers from a copy of an article in the New York Times (NYT) and the article is added to the reader's life library, the life library system will check with the NYT to see if the reader is subscribed to the online version of the NYT. If so, the reader gets a copy of the article stored in his or her life library account, and otherwise the information identifying the document and how to order it is stored in his or her life library account.

In some embodiments, the system maintains a subscriber profile for each subscriber that includes access rights information. Document access information can be compiled in several ways, two of which are: 1) the subscriber providing document access information to the life library system, along with his / her account name and password, and 2) the life library service provider Inquiries to the information-bearing publisher and the publisher responds by providing access to the electronic copy when the life library subscriber is authorized to access the article. If the Life Library subscriber is not authorized to have an electronic copy of the document, the publisher provides a price to the Life Library service provider and then gives the customer the option to purchase the electronic document. If so, the Life Library Service Provider will pay the publisher directly and later charge the Life Library Customer or the Life Library Service Provider will immediately charge the customer's credit card for purchases. The life library service provider gets a small fixed cost or a few percent of the purchase price to facilitate the transaction.

The system may store documents in a subscriber's individual library and / or any other library in which the subscriber has recordkeeping authority. For example, when a user scans text in a printed document, the life library system can identify the rendered document and its electronic copy. Once the original document is identified, the life library system can record information about the original document in the user's individual library and in a group library in which the subscriber has recordkeeping rights. Group libraries are joint archives such as document repositories for groups working together on projects, groups of academic researchers, group weblogs, and so on.

Life libraries can be organized in chronological order, by topic, by subscriber level, by publication type (newspaper, book, magazine, technical paper, etc.), by reading place or time, or by ISBN or decimal classification. In one alternative, the system may know the taxonomy based on how other subscribers have classified the document. The system can suggest taxonomy to users or automatically classify documents for users.

In various embodiments, annotations can be inserted directly into the document or maintained as separate files. For example, when a subscriber scans text in a newspaper article, the article is highlighted and stored in its life library along with the scanned text. Alternatively, keep the article in the Life Library along with its associated annotation file (thus keeping the archived document unmodified). Embodiments of the system may maintain a link to an original document copy in each subscriber's library, a copy in a master library accessible to many subscribers, or a copy maintained by a publisher.

In some embodiments, the Life Library only stores document revisions (eg, highlights, etc.) and links to online versions of documents (stored elsewhere). The system or subscriber merges the changes and documents when the subscriber subsequently retrieves the document.

If the comments are kept in separate files, the original document and the comments file are provided to the subscriber and the subscriber combines them to create a modified document. Alternatively, the system combines before providing the two files to the subscriber. As another alternative, the annotation file is an overlay to the document file and can be overlaid on the document by software in the subscriber computer.

Subscribers to Life Library Services pay a monthly fee to ensure that the system maintains their archives. Alternatively, the subscriber pays a small amount (eg, a small payment) for each document stored in the archive. Alternatively, the subscriber pays to access the subscriber's archive at a fee per access. Alternatively, the subscriber can compile the library so that others can access articles / comments on the revenue sharing model, such as life library service providers and copyright holders. Alternatively, Life Library Service Providers receive payment from publishers when Life Library subscribers order documents (revenue sharing model with publishers, where Life Library Service Providers get some share of publisher revenue) .

In some embodiments, the life library service provider acts as an intermediary between the subscriber and the copyright holder (or copyright clearing center, abbreviated CCC) to facilitate billing and payment of copyrighted articles. The Life Library Service Provider provides this intermediary service by using the subscriber's billing information and other user's account information. Essentially, the life library service provider leverages the existing relationship with the subscriber to enable the purchase of copyrighted articles on behalf of the subscriber.

In some embodiments, the life library system can store excerpts from documents. For example, when a subscriber scans text from a paper document, the area around the scanned text is extracted and placed in the life library, rather than the entire document stored in the life library. This is particularly useful if the document is long because it preserves the state of the original scan, preventing the subscriber from rereading the document to find the portion of interest. Of course, a hyperlink to the full electronic copy of the paper document can be included with the excerpt.

In some embodiments, the system provides information about documents in the Life Library, such as the author, publication title, publication date, publisher, copyright holder (or the copyright holder's licensing agent), ISBN, link to the document's public annotation, leadrank, and so on. It also stores. Some of this additional information about the document is in the form of paper document metadata. A third party can create public annotations for access by anyone other than themselves, such as the general public. Links to comments by third parties on the document are useful because they enhance the subscriber's understanding of the document by reading other users' comment files.

In some embodiments, the system stores articles by class. This feature allows Life Library subscribers to quickly store electronic copies of the entire class of paper documents without access to each paper document. For example, when a subscriber scans some text from a copy of a National Geographic magazine, the system offers the subscriber the option to archive all back issues of National Geographic. If the subscriber decides to archive all back issues, the Life Library Service Provider checks with the National Geographic Society to see if the subscriber is authorized to do so. If not approved, Life Library Service Provider may broker the purchase of the right to keep National Geographic magazine collections.

16.2. Life saver

A modification or improvement of the life library concept is the "life saver", which uses text captured by the user to reason more about other activities. By scanning menus at specific restaurants, programs at certain theater performances, timetables at specific train stations, or articles from local newspapers, the system enables inferences about the user's location and social activities, for example, as a website. You can organize a diary. The user will be able to edit and edit this diary, add additional articles such as photos and view the scanned item again.

17. Academic Applications

The portable scanners supported by these systems have many compelling uses in academic settings. These scanners can enhance student / teacher interaction and enhance the learning experience. Among these uses, students can annotate learning articles to meet their unique needs, teachers can monitor academic performance and automatically identify source articles cited in their work.

17.1. Children's books

Children's interaction with paper documents, such as books, is monitored by a literacy learning system employing a particular set of embodiments of the present system. Children use a handheld scanner that communicates with other elements of the literacy acquisition system. In addition to a handheld scanner, the literacy acquisition system includes a computer with a display and a speaker and a database accessible by the computer. The scanner is connected to a computer (by wire, short-range RF, etc.). If your child sees a word you don't know in a book, scan it with a scanner. In one embodiment, the literacy acquisition system compares the scanned text with resources in the database to identify words. The database may include dictionaries, thesaurus, and / or multimedia files (eg, sounds, graphics, etc.). After the words have been identified, the system uses computer speakers to pronounce the words and their definitions to the children. In another embodiment, these words and definitions are displayed on a computer monitor by a literacy acquisition system. The multimedia file for the scanned word may be played through the computer monitor and the speaker. For example, if a child reading "Blonde Beauty and Three Bears" scans the word "bear", the system may pronounce the word "bear" and play a short video of the bear on a computer monitor. In this way, children learn to pronounce the written word and visually learn what the word means through a multimedia introduction.

A literacy acquisition system provides instant audio and / or visual information to enhance the learning process. Children use this supplemental information to quickly gain a deeper understanding of the written document. The system can be used to teach beginner readers to read and to help children gain broader vocabulary. This system provides words that are not familiar to children or information that children want more information about.

17.2. Literacy

In some embodiments, the system compiles a personal dictionary. When a reader sees a new, funny, especially useful or annoying word, save it as a computer file (with definitions). These computer files become reader's personalized dictionaries. Such dictionaries are generally smaller in size than ordinary dictionaries and thus can be downloaded to a mobile terminal or associated device and thus become available even if the system cannot be accessed immediately. In some embodiments, the personal dictionary entry includes a voice file to help pronunciation of the appropriate word and information identifying the paper document on which the word was scanned.

In some embodiments, the system generates customized spelling vocabulary tests for students. For example, when a student reads an assignment, the student can scan a strange word with a portable scanner. The system stores a list of all words scanned by the student. The system then presents the customized spelling / lexical test to the student on the associated monitor (or prints this test on the associated printer).

17.3. Music lessons

The placement of sheet music is similar to placing text on a line of text. The system can capture sheet music using the same scanning device as described above to capture text, and a similar process of constructing a search in a database of known music allows a piece of music to be captured to be identified and subsequently retrieved, played back, or Can be the basis for some other activities.

17.4. Plagiarism detection

Teachers can use this system to scan text from students' work and provide scanned text to the system to detect plagiarism or identify originals. For example, a teacher who wants to confirm that an excerpt in a student's work is from a source cited by the student can scan a portion of the excerpt and compare the title of the document cited by the student with the title of the document identified by the system. . Similarly, the system may use a scan of text from an assignment submitted to the student's original work to show if the text has been copied.

17.5 improved textbox

In some embodiments, capturing text from an academic text can provide a more detailed description of the student or staff, additional practice, discussion of the student and staff about the material, relevant exemplary past exam questions, additional papers on the subject, and lectures on the topic. To records, etc. (see section 7.1).

17.6 Language Learning

In some embodiments, the system is used to teach foreign languages. For example, scanning a Spanish word can cause the word to be read aloud in Spanish with an English definition of the word.

The system provides instant auditory and / or visual information to improve the new language acquisition process. The reader uses this supplemental information to quickly gain a deeper understanding of the data. The system can be used to teach a beginner student who wants to read a foreign language and to help students acquire more vocabulary, etc. The system provides the reader with information about foreign language words that are unfamiliar or that the reader wants more information about. do.

Readers' interactions with paper documents, such as newspapers or books, are monitored by the language skill system. The reader has a portable scanner that communicates with the language skill system. In some embodiments, the language skill system includes a computer with a display and speakers, and a database accessible by the computer. The scanner communicates with a computer (connected by wiring, short range RF, etc.). When a reader sees an unknown word in an article, the reader scans it with a scanner. The database may include a foreign language dictionary, a dictionary of synonyms, and / or multimedia files (voice, graphics, etc.). In one embodiment, the system compares the scanned text with resources in its database to identify the scanned words. After the words are identified, the system uses computer speakers to convey the words and their definitions to the reader. In some embodiments, both words and their definitions are displayed on a computer monitor. Multimedia files on grammar tips associated with the scanned words can also be played through computer monitors and speakers. For example, when the word "to speak" is scanned, the system pronounces the word "hablar", plays a short audio clip indicating the proper Spanish pronunciation, and displays a complete list of the various verb variations of "hablar". do. In this way, the student learns to pronounce words written in letters, visually learns how to spell words by multimedia presentation, and learns how to change verbs. The system also describes grammar tips on the proper use of "hablar" with common phrases.

In some embodiments, a user scans a word or short phrase from a rendered document in a language other than the user's native language (or language that the user reasonably understands). In some embodiments, the system maintains a priority list of the user's "preferred" languages. The system identifies the electronic copy of the rendered document and determines the scan location within the document. The system also identifies a second electronic copy of the translated document in any of the user's preferred languages and determines a location in the translated document that corresponds to a scan location in the original document. When the corresponding location is not known exactly, the system identifies a small area (eg paragraph) containing the corresponding location of the scanned location. The corresponding translated location is then presented to the user. This provides the user with an accurate translation of a particular phrase at the scanned location, often including a slang or other idiom that is difficult to translate accurately on a word-per-word basis.

17.7 Collection of Research Data

Users who study a particular topic can find all sorts of printed and on-screen materials that they want to record as relevant to the topic in a series of personal archives. The system can be automated as a result of scanning short phrases in any one material, and can also generate references suitable for insertion into a publication on a subject.

18. Commercial application

Obviously, commercial activities can be created from almost all the processes discussed in this article, but here we focus on a few clear income streams.

18.1 Price-Based Search and Indexing

Conventional Internet search engines generally provide free retrieval of electronic documents and also do not charge the content provider for including the content provider's content in the index. In some embodiments, the system bills the content provider in connection with billing the user and / or paying the search engine and / or operating and using the system.

In some embodiments, a subscriber to a system service pays a fee for a search originating in the scanning of a paper document. For example, a stockbroker could read an article in the Wall Street Journal about a new product offered by Company X. By scanning the name of Company X from the paper document and agreeing to pay the necessary fees, securities brokers use the system to search a special or proprietary database to obtain premium information about the company, such as analyst reports. . The system also arranges the documents that are read most in paper form to prioritize indexing, for example by ensuring that all newspapers published on a particular day are indexed and available until the article is published.

The content provider pays a fee associated with a particular term in the search query presented from the paper document. For example, in one embodiment, the system selects the most preferred content provider based on an additional context about the provider, in which case the context is paid by the content provider to raise the list of results. In essence, the search provider adjusts the paper document search results based on a prior financial agreement with the content provider. See details of keywords and key phrases in section 5.2.

If access to certain content is limited to a specific group of people (such as clients or employees), such content may be protected by a firewall, and as a result, generally not indexable by third parties. The content provider may nevertheless want to supply an index for protected content. In such case, the content provider may pay a fee to the service provider to provide indexes of the content provider to system subscribers. For example, a law firm can index all of a client's documents. The documents are stored behind the law firm's firewall. However, law firms may have their employees and clients access these documents through portable scanners to provide service providers with an index (or a pointer to an index), and law firm employees or clients may use paper through their portable scanners. When presenting the scanned search term, the service provider wants to search the law firm's index in turn. The law firm may provide a list of employees and / or clients to the service provider's system to enable the function, or verify the access rights by contacting the law firm before the system retrieves the law firm's index. Can be. In the above example, note that the index provided by the law firm is limited to that client's document, not the index of all the law firm's documents. Thus, a service provider can authorize a law firm's client access only to documents that the law firm has indexed for that client.

There are at least two separate revenue streams that may result from a search originating in the paper document: one is the revenue stream from the search function, and the other is the import flow from the content delivery function. The revenue of the search function is generated from the paid subscription of the scanner user, but may also be generated according to the fee per search. Content delivery revenue can be shared with content providers or copyright owners (service providers can take a fixed fee, such as a percentage or minimum payment of a certain sale for each delivery), but also if the service provider brokers the transaction. Regardless of whether or not a subscription is made, it may be generated by a “consignment” model in which the subscriber places an order from an online catalog and the system takes a fee or a percentage for every item that is delivered or provided to the system. In some embodiments, the system service provider receives revenue for all purchases made by the subscriber from the content provider for a given time or any subsequent time a purchase of the identified product has been made.

18.2 Catalog

A consumer can use a portable scanner to make a purchase from a paper catalog. The subscriber scans from the catalog information that identifies the catalog. This information is text from a catalog, a barcode, or another identifier of the catalog. The subscriber scans the information identifying the product she / he wants to purchase. The catalog mailing label may include a consumer identification number that identifies the consumer to the catalog vendor. If so, the subscriber can also scan this consumer identification number. The system acts as an intermediary between the subscriber and the vendor to assist in catalog purchase by providing the consumer's choice and consumer identification number to the vendor.

18.3 Coupon

The consumer scans the paper coupon and stores an electronic copy of the coupon on a remote device such as a scanner or a computer for later recovery and use. The advantage of electronic storage is that the consumer is free from the hassle of carrying paper coupons. An additional advantage is that the electronic coupon can be taken from any location. In some embodiments, the system may track the expiration date of the coupon, warn the consumer about a coupon that is about to expire, and / or delete the expired coupon from storage. An advantage for coupon issuers is that they are likely to receive more feedback about who is using the coupon and when and where they are captured and used.

19. Typical Applications

19.1 Form

The system can be used to auto-populate an electronic document corresponding to a paper form. The user scans a series of text or bar codes that uniquely identify the paper form. The scanner communicates the identity of the information with the form identifying the user to an adjacent computer. Adjacent computers have an Internet connection. The adjacent computer can access a first database of forms and a second database having information about the user of the scanner (such as a service provider's subscriber information database). The adjacent computer accesses the electronic version of the paper form from the first database and automatically fills in the fields of the form from the user information obtained from the second database. The adjacent computer then e-mails the completed form to the intended recipient. Alternatively, the computer can print the completed form on an adjacent printer.

In some embodiments, rather than accessing an external database, the system includes a portable scanner containing user information, such as in an identity module, SIM, or security card. The scanner provides information identifying the form to an adjacent PC. The adjacent PC accesses the electronic form and asks the scanner for the information needed to fill the form.

19.2 Business Cards

The system can be used to automatically populate an electronic address book or other contact list from a paper document. For example, when receiving a business card of a newly met person, the user can capture an image of the card with his / her mobile phone. The system locates an electronic copy of the business card, which can be used to update the onboard address book of the mobile phone with the contact information of the newly met person. The electronic copy may contain more information about the newly met person, which may be compressed into a business card. The onboard address book can also store a link to the electronic copy so that any changes made to the electronic copy are automatically updated in the phone's address book. In this example, the business card optionally includes a symbol or text indicating that there is an electronic copy. Without an electronic copy, cell phones can use knowledge of OCR and standard business card formats to fill in entries in the address book for new contacts. The symbol may also help the process of extracting information directly from the image. For example, a telephone icon next to a telephone number on a business card may be recognized to determine the location of the telephone number.

19.3 Proofreading / Editing

The system can improve the calibration and editing process. One way the system can improve the editing process is by linking the editor's interaction with the paper document to its electronic copy. When an editor reads a paper document and scans various parts of the document, the system will make appropriate comments and edits to the electronic copy of the paper document. For example, when an editor scans a piece of text and makes a gesture control of a "new paragraph" with the scanner, the computer communicating with the scanner inserts a break of "new paragraph" at the position of the scanned text in the electronic copy of the document. something to do.

19.4 Voice Annotation

A user can annotate a document by scanning a text portion from the document and making a voice recording associated with the scanned text. In some embodiments, the scanner has a microphone for recording the user's verbal annotations. After the oral comment is recorded, the system identifies the document from which the text was scanned, locates the scanned text within the document, and attaches a voice comment at that point. In some embodiments, the system converts speech to text and annotates as comments in the text.

In some embodiments, the system keeps the annotation separate from the document only as a reference to the annotation included in the document. The annotation then becomes the annotation markup layer for the document for the specified subscriber or user group.

In some embodiments, for each capture and associated annotation, the system identifies the document, opens it using a software package, scrolls to the scan location, and plays back the voice annotation. The user then interacts with the document, referring to voice annotations, changes made by themselves or others, or other recorded comments.

19.5 Textual Help

The system described above can be used to enhance the paper document with an electronic help menu. In some embodiments, the markup layer associated with the paper document includes help menu information for the document. For example, when a user scans text from a particular portion of a document, the system checks the markup associated with the document and provides a help menu to the user. The help menu is displayed on the display of the scanner or on an associated adjacent display.

19.6 Using the Display

In some situations, it is advantageous to be able to scan information from a television, computer monitor, or other similar display. In some embodiments, a portable scanner is used to scan information from computer monitors and televisions. In some embodiments, the portable optical scanner has an illumination sensor optimized for working with typical cathode ray tube (CRT) display technologies such as rasterizing, screen blanking, and the like.

Voice capture devices that operate by capturing audio of a user reading text from a document generally operate whether the document is on paper, on a display, or on some other medium.

19.6.1. Public Kiosk and Dynamic Session IDs

One use of direct scanning of the display is associated with a device as described in section 15.6. For example, in some embodiments, a public kiosk displays a dynamic session ID on its monitor. The kiosk is connected to a communication network such as the Internet or a corporate intranet. The session ID changes periodically, but at all times when the kiosk is used to ensure that at least the new session ID is displayed to all users. To use the kiosk, the subscriber scans the session ID displayed on the kiosk; By scanning the session ID, the user expresses to the system that he wishes to temporarily connect the kiosk to his scanner for the scanning of the printed document or the delivery of content from the kiosk screen itself. The scanner may communicate the session ID and other information (serial number, account number, or other identifying information) that authenticates the scanner directly to the system. For example, the scanner sends a session initiation message through the user's mobile phone (paired with the user's scanner via Bluetooth ™), directly with the system (where "direct" means not passing the message through the kiosk). Can communicate. Alternatively, the scanner may use the kiosk's communication link by establishing a wireless link with the kiosk and sending session initialization information to the kiosk (perhaps via a short range of RF such as Bluetooth ™, etc.); In response, the kiosk sends session initialization information to the system via its internet connection.

The system can prevent others from using a device already connected to the scanner during the period (or session) with which the device is connected with the scanner. This feature is useful to prevent others from using a public kiosk before another person's session is over. As an example of this concept related to using a computer in an internet cafe, a user scans a barcode on the monitor of a PC she / he wants to use; In response, the system sends the session ID to the monitor on which it is displayed; The user initiates the session by scanning the session ID from the monitor (or entering it through a keypad or touch screen or microphone on a portable scanner); The system associates the session ID with its serial number (or other identifier that uniquely identifies the user scanner) in its database so that other scanners can scan the session ID and the monitor is unavailable during his / her session. Let's do it. The scanner communicates with the PC connected to the monitor (via a wireless link, such as Bluetooth ™, or via a wired connection, such as a docking station), or directly (ie, not through a PC) to the system via another means, such as a mobile phone. .

4th part System and portable Device  Detail

4 is a perspective view illustrating a general use of a portable scanning device. In the example shown, the user scans text in newspaper 410 via portable device 500 with scanning capability. The user scanned a portion of the line of text 420 with a portable scanner 500. An image of a portion of the line of text 420 may be stored by the scanner 500, sent to another device for remote storage, compressed, or processed in various ways. In some embodiments, portable scanner 500 indicates when enough information has been scanned to uniquely identify a newspaper article.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the portable device 500 is a pen form-factor scanner. However, a portable device with any image capturing capability, such as a digital camera, is a suitable equivalent to the portable device 400 shown in FIG.

5 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a general portable scanning device 500. The portable scanning device 500 has a light source 505 that illuminates an object such as a graphic or text to be scanned. Light reflected from the scanned object passes through the lens 510 and its characteristics (color, intensity, etc.) are registered by a suitable device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) array 515. . Analog data stored in the CCD array 515 is converted into a digital form by the analog-to-digital (A / D) converter 520.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, DSP 575 is powered by power source 540, system clock 570, A / D converter 520, image compression logic 525, memory 530. And operatively coupled with billing / subscription / device identifier memory 580, power management logic 535, location module 545, communication interface 550, and user interface 560. After the image data is digitized by the A / D converter 520, the digital signal processor (DSP) 575 may perform various operations on the image data according to a program stored in the memory 530.

The digital signal processor 575 may store digital image data in the memory 530. To save memory 530 space, DSP 575 may implement an image compression scheme by accessing image compression logic 525 to compress digital image data prior to storage. Many kinds of image compression schemes can be used, such as the well-known JPEG or JBIG compression schemes. In some cases, DSP 575 alternatively uses optical character recognition (OCR) to convert the scanned image data into text before storing in memory 530.

The power management logic 535 monitors the power 540 status and the rate of power consumption by the various components of the portable scanning device 500. If power source 540 is an internal power source such as a battery, power management logic 535 may suspend certain components or enter a low power mode to extend battery life. In addition, the power management logic 535 may cause the user interface 560 to communicate a "low battery" alert, such as dimming a red LED, sounding an audible alarm, or "low battery" icon on the LCD. Can be displayed.

The memory 530 may include program instructions for the DSP 575. It may also be used to store text and / or image data in a compressed or uncompressed format. In addition, timestamps and location stamps associated with the image data may be stored in the memory 530.

The clock 570 provides a clock signal for synchronizing the operation of various components of the portable scanner 500. Clock 570 may also provide a reference time for the time stamped image data. For example, when a user scans a portion of text, DSP 575 performs OCR on the scan data and stores the resulting text in memory 530 with the time stamp learned from clock 570. do. Alternatively, timestamps may be obtained from the location module 545, especially if a GPS receiver is included in the location module 545.

The location module 545 provides location determination functionality to the portable device 500. The location module 545 may include a GPS receiver that provides location and time information by monitoring signal broadcasts by a GPS network comprised of satellites and ground based transmitters. This location information can be used to provide a location stamp indicating where a particular scan occurred. For example, when a user scans a portion of text, the DSP 575 performs an OCR on the scan data and places the resulting text in memory 530 along with the location stamp obtained from the location module 545. Can be stored. Location stamps can be at various levels, such as country, state, region, city, providing network access point, location within 100 meters, exact location, and the like.

The communication interface 550 includes a transceiver that authorizes the portable device 500 to communicate with other devices. The communication interface 505 can be a short range RF (Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc.), a mobile phone, or a wireless interface such as optical (infrared, etc.). When the communication interface 550 includes wireless capability, the portable scanning device also includes an antenna or lens needed to implement the wireless function.

The communication interface 550 can also include a wired interface, such as USB and similar schemes. If the communication interface 550 is a wired interface such as USB, the communication interface 550 can supply power to charge the internal power source 540 or to power the portable scanning device 500.

User interface 560 may include audio capabilities such as speakers and microphones, visual capabilities such as LCD displays or LEDs, and / or tactile (contact) capabilities such as buzzers and transducers.

6 is a data structure diagram illustrating the format for a data record 600 generally used by the system. Data record 600 includes scanned data 630. The scanned data 630 may be text, image, symbol or any suitable data type. Data record 600 also includes a time stamp 610 associated with the scanned data 630. In some embodiments, time stamp 610 indicates the time at which scanned data 630 was obtained by device 500. Data record 600 includes a location stamp 620 associated with the scanned data 630. In some embodiments, location stamp 620 indicates the location from which scanned data 630 was obtained. In some embodiments, time stamp 610 and location stamp 620 respectively index the scanned data 630 by time and location, thereby enabling retrieval of data stored by scan time and / or location. Let's do it.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating steps generally performed by a system to detect and store information regarding the location and / or time at which a document was scanned using portable device 500. In step 710, portable device 500 obtains data 630, such as a scanned image or text. The portable device 500 may include predetermined instructions as to whether to include a time stamp 610 or a location stamp 620 in the data record 600. In step 715 the portable device 500 determines whether a time stamp 610 is needed in the data record 600. If a timestamp is needed in the data record 600, the portable device 500 at step 720 obtains the timestamp information 610 from the clock 570 (or from the location module 545, if GPS is available). Acquisition, and flow proceeds to step 725. If no time stamp is needed at step 715, the portable device 500 proceeds to step 725. In step 725, portable device 500 determines whether location stamp 620 is needed in data record 600. If a location stamp is needed in the data record 600, the portable device 500 obtains the location stamp information 620 from the location module 255 and proceeds to step 735. If no location stamp is needed at step 725, the portable device 500 proceeds to step 735. In step 735, portable device 500 stores data 630 in memory 530 along with an associated time stamp 610 or location stamp 620.

Indicate to the user that sufficient information has been scanned to identify the document.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner 500 may indicate to the user that enough information has been scanned to identify the document. For example, the portable scanner 500 may have a predetermined threshold that indicates a particular scan that uniquely identifies the document. When meeting or exceeding the threshold, the portable scanner 500 may indicate via the user interface 560 that the user has scanned enough information to identify the document. These predetermined thresholds can be determined based on heuristics (ie, rule of thumb), statistical analysis, or other appropriate method.

In some embodiments, one discovery method used by the system to determine the threshold is based on the observation of the unique characters of the written expression. Most documents can be uniquely identified within a very large collection of data-for example, a document containing 1 million documents-with a scan between 4 and 10 words (approximately 20-50 characters or symbols in English). . This discovery method accepts all languages tested. If a scan in the range of 4-10 words creates a duplicate document, the user may be prompted to scan additional words to further narrow the result.

The portable device 500 may indicate to the user that sufficient information has been scanned by the visual, audio, or tactile capabilities of the user interface 560. Upon determining whether the scanned information meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold, the DSP 575 instructs the user interface 560 to communicate to the user that enough information has been scanned to identify the document from which the information was scanned. .

Time stamps and location stamps can also be used to identify documents. For example, an article of an AP news agency may be published in many newspapers, but an accurate newspaper may be determined by a location stamp. If the location stamp indicates that the scan was conducted in Seattle, then the Seattle newspaper is most likely the source of the scanned AP article. Similarly, in some embodiments, the system uses timestamps to reduce the range of candidate documents for documents published prior to timestamps.

Indicates that the user has scanned enough information to identify the document or its location within the document group.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner 500 may indicate to the user that enough information has been scanned to identify the document or location within the document group. For example, the portable scanner 500 may have a threshold that indicates a particular scan that uniquely identifies a location within a document or group of documents. When matching or exceeding the threshold, the portable scanner 500 may indicate via the user interface 560 that the user has scanned enough information to identify a document or location within a group of documents. These thresholds can be determined based on heuristics (ie, empirical methods), statistical analysis, information about a particular document or group of documents (eg, indexes), or other appropriate method.

One approach to determining the location used by the facility includes referencing an index representing a document or group of documents, modifying the inferences regarding the location of the current capture if the capture is not unique within the index, Additional contextual information (eg, last capture location, elapsed time since last capture, etc.) is used to refine.

In some embodiments, positioning of the system is probabilistic. If a particular capture matches at multiple locations in a document or group of documents, the system can give a higher probability to the location closest to the user's most recent capture. The threshold is associated with what the capture position is known. Such a threshold may include the possibility of being associated with a potential matching location. For example, in some embodiments, if one location has a probability of at least 80% of the user's location, the system selects that location.

The portable device 500 may point a user to a known location through the visual, audio, or tactile capabilities of the user interface 560. Upon determining whether the scanned information matches or exceeds a predetermined threshold, the DSP 575 instructs the user interface 560 to communicate to the user that enough information has been scanned to identify the location where the information was scanned. .

Control scanner behavior via scanned image and / or gesture

In some embodiments, the portable scanner 500 is controlled by user input via the user interface 560. For example, if the user interface 560 includes a display from which a menu can be presented to the user, the user can select a menu selection to control the operation of the portable scanner 500.

In some embodiments, portable scanner 500 is controlled by a gesture performed by a user. For example, scanning the text forward may indicate that the user wants to store the text in memory. Scanning the same text in the opposite direction may indicate that the user wants to delete the text from memory. Rubbing back and forth on the text of the document may indicate that the user wants to highlight the text in the electronic copy of the document. The system allows many gestures, such as circular motion, rocking motion, and the like, to be used to control the operation of the portable device 500. Possible actions include initiating a scanning process, signaling that the user has scanned from a particular article or document (and, as a result, subsequent scanned data will come from a new article or document), and the like.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner 500 includes an acceleration sensor (not shown in FIG. 5 for simplicity), such as an accelerometer, to sense a speed or direction change and thereby determine a control gesture.

The portable scanner 500 may also be programmed to respond to control commands input to the DSP 575 via the image capture mechanism. (In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the image capture mechanism is a light source 505. , Lenses 510, CCD array 515, and A / D converter 520.) These commands control biometric information (fingerprints, etc.), or patterns scanned normal text (data storage described above). May be special symbols recognized by the scanner, such as scanning text in the reverse direction. For example, a document such as a catalog may include a menu of command symbols with a special trail for portable device 500. To execute the control program, the user scans one of the symbols. In response, DSP 575 accesses and executes the control program associated with the particular control signal. In the example of a catalog, one of the special symbols can initiate a purchasing program that can be used to order products from the catalog via a scanner. The user scans information about the ordered product, and the portable scanner provides the catalog vendor with other information (such as billing and shipping information) needed to complete the product and sale via a connection between the Internet and the communication interface 550. Communicate

Scanner with billing / subscription / device identifier

The portable device 500 may include a memory 580 for storing information regarding billing, subscriptions, and / or device identifiers. This memory 580 may be removable, such as in a subscriber identity module (SIM) or smart card, or may be removable, such as a programmable read memory (PROM). If an electronic copy of the document is located based on the scanned data, the subscription information can be used to verify whether the user should be authorized to access the electronic copy. For example, a newspaper may pay an additional fee for access to its online version. The user's subscription information may include an account number indicating whether the user has subscribed to the online version.

Similarly, billing information can be used to make a purchase with the portable scanner 500. In some embodiments, memory 580 includes a user's credit card or other financial information. For example, when a user scans text from a document and indicates that he or she wishes to purchase access to an electronic copy of the document (via user interface 560 or gesture control described above), the billing information is copyrighted. Can be used to provide a payment to the owner or content provider.

The portable device 500 may store a device identifier, such as a serial number, in the memory 580. These device identifiers serve to uniquely identify the portable device 500 and are generally stored in a PROM such that they cannot be erased. Additional security for the transaction can be learned by associating the portable device to only one user by associating the serial number of the portable device to a user account or subscription in the network database. In some embodiments, additional security is achieved by storing the device identifier on the smart card (or by storing the smart card identifier in the portable scanner 500) to lock the scanner to the smart card. In this embodiment, the DSP 575 verifies that the correct smart card has been inserted before the portable scanner 500 operates.

Equivalent location technology

Although the location module 545 has been discussed first with reference to an on-board GPS receiver, many other location techniques can be used. These technologies include Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), Assisted GPS (A-GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), and Time Difference of Arrival ( TDOA), arrival angle, triangulation and monitoring of the local transceiver pilot signal. EOTD, TDOA, and Arrival Angles transmit signals to the networked base station where the portable device associates logic in the network with data about signals received at each base station to measure the location of the portable device. It is the most suitable for the Triangulation can be either internal or external. The portable device performs internal triangulation when it receives signals from at least three external transmitters (such as an IEEE 802.11 base station) and calculates an approximate location based on the characteristics of the received signal. External triangulation occurs when a networked receiver external to the portable device is used to estimate the location of the portable device based on the characteristics of the signal received from the portable device. In some embodiments, the system uses the strength of the received signal at one or more external receivers to measure the distance of the portable device from the external receiver. A fixed transmitter often broadcasts a pilot signal that identifies the particular transmitter so that the mobile receiver can "lock on" the signal from the desired transmitter. If the location of the fixed transmitter and the approximate coverage area are known, the location of the portable device can be estimated based on the transmitter "dividing" it. For example, if the portable device receives a signal from an IEEE 802.11 wireless access point, one can assume that the portable device is within 300 feet of the wireless access point (approximately the outdoor range of the current IEEE 802.11g transmitter).

Handheld Document Data Capture Device

In various embodiments, a portable data capture device for use with the system is described in various respects throughout the text. Proceeding in this regard, further discussion is provided to detail the capabilities and functions of various types of portable capture devices.

In some embodiments, a portable device with data capture capability may indicate to the user that the user has captured enough text or other information to uniquely identify the document. The portable device can compare the amount of information scanned with a predetermined threshold level to determine if enough information has been scanned (this threshold method is particularly useful when the scanner is not in communication with a computer). When the portable device communicates with a remote computer, the remote computer can send a message to the device indicating that the computer has identified a document whose text has been scanned. The portable device may be an image capture device for acquiring an image, a processor for processing the image, a memory for storing data, and / or logic (software program), an input / output communication interface for communicating with another device. And a light source and a location module for dimming the power, the scanned information.

In some embodiments, the text or symbols captured by the portable data capture device may cause the scanner to execute a software program or to execute certain predetermined operations (erase data on memory, turn on / off, initiate financial transactions, and / or Can be used and translated as control commands by the control logic or control software of the device.

In some embodiments, after capturing data from the paper document, the portable data capture device indicates to the user that one or more electronic copies of the paper document have been recognized or located. When the portable device communicates with the remote computer, the remote computer may send a message to the portable device indicating that the computer has placed an electronic copy of the document whose text has been scanned. In response to receiving the message, the portable scanner indicates to the user that the electronic copy is placed and that the user can stop scanning. Among many possible ones, the indicator can be visual (eg, LEDs, displays, etc.), hearing (eg, speakers, beepers, etc.) or tactile (stimulating touch sensing).

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has location and / or time determination capability and may store location and / or time information with the captured data regarding where and / or when data capture occurs. The time information can be a time stamp associated with a particular data capture event. The location information can be a location stamp associated with a particular data capture event.

In some embodiments, a portable data capture device, such as a portable scanner, is controlled by the nature of the scan, such as speed, repetition, direction, and the like. In addition, the control program or logic of the scanner may respond to special symbols such as trademark symbols. These special symbols may be associated with a particular operation to be performed by the portable device or the program to be executed.

In some embodiments, a portable data capture device, such as a scanner, stores billing / subscription / device identifier information in memory. Subscription information may be used to verify a user's authority to access an electronic copy of an identified document, such as, for example, a prepaid account. Billing information may be used to pay for access to an electronic copy of the identified document. The device identifier can be used as a security feature to assist in verifying the identity of the user.

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device is combined with an ink pen and / or a physical highlighter. This combination allows users to annotate and highlight on paper and electronic documents at the same time. In addition, some embodiments are integrated into a printing mechanism, such as an inkjet printer, to add a digital signature to the paper document.

Input / output

The portable data capture device includes various means for inputting and outputting information and instructions. The user, communication service provider, remote network device, and the captured information are some of the potential sources of information and instructions (such as operational instructions).

User interface

In some embodiments, the user interface (UI) is the primary means by which the user interacts with the portable data capture device. Information and control instructions enter the portable data capture device via the user-interface. The user interacts with a portable data capture device through a user-interface. The user provides control commands and information to the portable data capture device via the UI. In a similar manner, a user receives information from a portable data capture device via a UI. For example, a user enters text through a keypad on the device and receives a visual confirmation of keypad entry on the device's display.

input

UI means for data entry can be described in four broad categories: auditory, tactile, gesture, and optical. In various embodiments, the portable data capture device has a combination of various UI means from some or all of these categories.

ear

The auditory UI consists of means for inputting a voice signal, such as speech, into a portable data capture device. Converting voice signals into electrical energy requires an audio-to-electric converter such as a microphone. The portable device may perform a number of operations on voice signals including storing, transmitting as digitized waveforms, or converting to text and storing as digitized text.

microphone

In some embodiments, the portable device includes a microphone for capturing speech. This feature is useful for embedding voice annotations in documents, recording messages, and communicating with other users (eg, if the data capture device has mobile phone capabilities).

Tactile (contact)

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device accepts a mechanical or tactile (contact) input. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device includes a switch that the user can press to start the data capture process. In an embodiment with a tip switch, the user presses the device against the paper to begin the scanning process. In another embodiment, the portable data capture device employs a sensor to detect where proximity to the scanning target.

Jog wheel

Jog wheels, similar to the wheels on a computer mouse, are useful for interacting with computer electronics or menus. For example, in some embodiments, the system presents the menu selection on the display adjacent to the scanner user. Rather than lifting a portable scanner from a document and scanning one of the menu items, the user can move the thumb wheel to scroll down the menu selections.

Keypad

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has a keypad and / or a button for entering data into the device. In some embodiments, the capture device has a cancel button to reverse or erase the selection and a confirmation button to confirm the selection (eg purchase confirmation). In some embodiments, the capture device has a button that points to the context switch or wants to set the context. For example, after scanning text in the first document, the user can indicate that he has scanned from the first document and then will scan the text from the second document by pressing the context button, then press the context button. By pressing, the user informs the system that his context scanning has changed.

Tip switch / proximity sensor

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has a tip switch or proximity sensor. In a pen-shaped scanner, the tip switch is a switch that is activated when the tip of the scanner is pressed against the document. The tip switch may include pressure sensing capabilities such that the scanner can modify its behavior depending on how hard the user presses the scanner against the paper. For example, the scanner will perform a highlighting function (in combination with computer and word processing software) if it is pressed hard against the paper. As another example, the scanner may turn the switch on / off and activate the tip switch by pressing the scanner tip against the paper.

Granule / surface texture sensor

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device includes two parallel micro / surface texture sensors to detect deformation of the surface on the document. A common use of this kind of input sensor is to capture braille text. The parallel surface texture sensor can determine the angle of the sensor from the relative speed / distance moved by the parallel sensor. Non-contact optical sensors are a general type of surface texture sensor that fits well with the use of embodiments of portable data capture devices.

Gesture (motion based)

The user can enter data and commands into the portable data capture device by making a gesture with it. The device can detect the gesture by observing the data passing under the scanning head, by monitoring the change in the motion sensor, or by mechanical motion-sensing means.

Observation of Optical Data

By observing the surface or data passing under the optical element, the portable data capture device can calculate relative motion in much the same way that an optical computer mouse does. By analyzing the relative behavior of the device, the device can determine what user gestures to the device. In some embodiments, the optical system can also detect relative motion by observing a pattern on the surface of the rendered document. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device can detect the absolute position by checking the absolute position code on the surface of the rendered document.

Gyro / Accelerometer Motion Sensor

In some embodiments, the portable capture device includes an acceleration sensor, such as an accelerometer, to detect a change in speed or direction, thereby determining a control gesture. In some embodiments, the portable capture device uses a gyroscope to detect motion and gestures. Single chip ring-laser gyroscopes are particularly suitable for this task.

Machine (ball point, roller, etc.)

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device includes a rolling element or ball similar to the ball point of an optically encoded ink pen. As the ball moves along the paper surface, the optical sensor detects the motion of the optically encoded element.

In some embodiments, the portable capture device measures the flow of electrically charged ink throughout the ballpoint to record the relative motion. The ink flowing in the ball is given the charge detected by this probe. A current-sensitive probe embedded in the ballpoint housing detects the flow of ink on the ball. If there are a plurality of probes, the direction of the ink flow can be inferred from the motion of the resulting ball, and hence the actual motion across the surface. This electrically charged ink technology can serve as a general purpose input recording device, where a user writes in conventional ink, while motion can be written and recorded. A guard ring at or near the boundary where the ball emerges from its housing may be used to discharge the charged ink so that only charged ink flowing out of the receiver is sensed by the sensor.

optics

The user can enter data and commands into a data capture device that is portable by the optical sensing system.

Scanner / imaging system

By scanning keywords or symbols, the user can enter commands and data into the device. The portable device can be programmed to recognize a particular graphic symbol as a command. For example, when a user scans the symbol "$", the portable device recognizes it as a command to initiate a financial transaction such as a purchase.

Print

The UI of the portable data capture device may also show information to the user. This information is usually about the operating state of the device. UI output means for showing information to the user can be classified into three broad categories: auditory, tactile, and optical. Embodiments of a portable data capture device will have various combinations of UI output means from some or all of these categories.

In some embodiments, the portable capture device can send the scan results to the host computer and communicate the operating state or mode to the user in the manner of display. The display may be an onboard portable capture device or associated with a host computer. In some embodiments, the portable device uses a wired or wireless communication medium. In some embodiments, the user uses a monitor connected to the host computer to display the information. Examples of suitable wired connections are: RS-232; PS / 2; Serial; USB; Ethernet; Token ring; Printer connection (eg IEEE 1284); firewall; RJ45 (telephone line); Home plug and optical fiber. Examples of suitable wireless connections include: wireless Ethernet (eg, IEEE 802.11a, b, g); Bluetooth ™; Infrared (such as in television remote control, IrDA); And ultra-wideband. The portable device communicates to the user using hearing (eg, piezoelectric speaker), tactile (including vibration of the mobile phone), or visual alert.

In various embodiments, the UI may indicate that an error has occurred and the user has to scan again; The communication link to another device is opened and activated; The portable device is turned on; Gesture is detected; Or it can indicate which mode the scanner is currently in. For example, in some embodiments, the scanner simply vibrates if the scan needs to be repeated.

ear

In many embodiments, the portable data capture device may provide an audible warning sound to the user. Such audible alerts require an electro-acoustic transducer, such as a speaker, that converts electrical signals into sound.

speaker

In some embodiments, the portable capture device has a speaker or piezoelectric element to produce sound. These speakers can be used to read text to the user or to alert the user to changes in the device's state. For example, in some embodiments, the device emits a dial tone during scanning to alert the user that a paper document has been identified and an electronic copy of the paper document has been placed. As another example, as text is scanned from a paper document, the capture device applies a text-to-speech process to the scanned text and reproduces the resulting audio.

contact

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device communicates with the user by vibration. The contact UI is particularly useful in environments where audible alerts are not audible due to ambient noise levels, or where audible alerts are not socially acceptable (eg, theaters).

vibration

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device is equipped with a vibrate element that notifies the user of a change in device state. In some mobile phone embodiments, this vibrating element is included in the phone's battery pack. In some embodiments, similar to a “rumble strip” that informs the driver that the driver is drifting out of their path, the portable data capture device vibrates when the scanning head is off the line.

Optical

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device communicates with the user via the UI by visual means. In some embodiments, the device projects menu or other information onto the scanned paper. For example, when the capture device is working with a word processing program on a computer, the device may display yellow light on the paper to indicate that the system will highlight the scanned text in the yellow portion of the open document in that word processing program. Can be projected.

display

The portable data capture device can include a display. In some embodiments, the Nialby display may be associated with the portable data capture device to route information about the portable data capture device to the display and present the information on the display. Using a Nialby display, such as a computer monitor, is particularly useful when the portable data capture device has no display or information is not suitable for presentation on a small display of the portable data capture device.

LEDs

In addition, light emitting diodes (LEDs) may be used to visually communicate with the user. For example, in some embodiments, the portable data capture device activates a green LED to indicate that the portable data capture device is on and ready to capture data.

Communicate with other devices

The communication interface of the portable data capture device includes a transceiver that allows the portable data capture device to communicate with other devices. The portable data capture device can communicate with other compatible electronic devices such as computers, mobile phones, wireless transceivers.

cable

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses a wired connection to communicate with other electronic devices. When any suitable protocol is connected to the computer, it can be used for communication. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses the Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol to communicate with the host computer over a connected connection.

USB

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a protocol used by the portable data capture device of some embodiments. In some embodiments, in addition to providing a communication channel between the computer and the portable data capture device, the USB provides power to recharge the battery of the portable data capture device. In some embodiments, the USB interface allows a user to attach a USB memory device to a portable data capture device.

Fiber optic

Fiber optic communication channels may also be used by some embodiments of portable data capture devices. Suitable fiber types for various embodiments are monomode and multimode. One advantage of multimode fiber is the use of cheap LED light sources. It is also less important when the connector connection and arrangement is a multimode fiber.

wireless

In some embodiments, the communication interface of the portable data capture device is a wireless interface. Suitable wireless technologies are near field RF (Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc.), cellular, or light (such as infrared). If the communication interface includes a wireless capability, it typically includes an antenna or lens that is necessary to implement the wireless capability.

WLAN, cellular, BT, etc

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device implements wireless local area network (WLAN) capability using a transceiver of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Portable data capture devices typically use WLAN "hotspots" to communicate with remote computers. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses a Bluetooth (BT) near field RF method to pair and communicate with a Nialby device, such as a mobile phone or a personal computer. In addition, a mobile phone implementing a portable data capture function may use a cellular communication network to send captured data to a remote computer.

Data capture subsystem

The portable data capture device has a data capture subsystem. This data subsystem generally has the ability to capture voice, optical, and / or magnetic strip data. The captured data is stored in memory for subsequent processing and transmission. In some embodiments, the captured information may be compressed and / or automatically deleted to save memory space and communication channel bandwidth. An automatic deletion example is to delete the scanned image after it has been converted to text by the OCR process. Storing images that do not contain all of the captured information can save memory. Examples include compressed formats such as GIF or JPG. Another approach is to not store unnecessary color information. For example, a typical CCD image sensor can capture 24 levels of color information per pixel (ie, distinguish more than 16 million different colors). For the purpose of a standard OCR, a portable data capture device only needs to be able to distinguish between white, almost white, almost black, and black (2 bits). This 24 to 2 bit reduction saves approximately 92% of storage space.

voice

When the portable data capture device has an optical data capture system, in some embodiments, the voice capture subsystem is useful in many environments. The voice capture subsystem typically enables the user to read text from the rendered document. The onboard microphone captures the spoken word. The speech-to-text application then converts the speech to text format. The text is then used, for example, to locate the electronic counterpart of the rendered document. In some embodiments, such data capture is a mobile phone or scannotator, described below.

Optical data capture subsystem

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device includes an optical data capture subsystem. Optical data capture systems typically include an image sensor and an optical path. The optical path passes through an aperture in the housing of the portable device. In some embodiments, the optical element includes a portion of a housing of the device. The optical path may include an aperture for focusing the lens or light, and / or a transparent cover for protecting the optical path. In some embodiments, the image conduit is part of an optical path that guides light from the rendered document to the image sensor.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner has an image sensor behind the aperture. In some embodiments, the aperture has a transparent cover that protects the internal optical path of the image sensor and device from dust and damage. In some embodiments, the cover is plastic or glass. When a portable scanner is equipped with a lens, the lens can typically focus such that the distance from the aperture to the paper is variable depending on the distance from the aperture to the image sensor. This relationship can be formed as 1 / f = 1 / u + 1 / v (f is the focal length of the lens, u is the distance from the aperture to the document, v is the distance from the sensor to the aperture). In some embodiments, the portable scanner uses one or more focusing lenses.

In some embodiments, the optical system may capture data when the user moves the portable data capture device to the rendered document. Capturing data when the portable data capture device accesses the rendered document can provide a wide field of view to the portable data capture device and therefore provide additional information about the visual context of this capture. In portable scanners with this type of optical system, the scanner captures data from the document even before the scanner contacts the surface of the document. In some cases, capturing data as the scanner accesses the document allows the user to interact with the paper by touching or tapping without rubbing along a line of text. The user experience points to text ("touching") rather than the user scanning along lines of text.

Optical capture subsystem configuration

The optical capture subsystem can be implemented in a variety of configurations, each with specific advantages for a particular application.

One-dimensional sensor array

In some embodiments, the light sensing element is a one-dimensional linear sensor array. One-dimensional arrays consist of rows of sensors that capture optical information. One-dimensional arrays are well suited for some biometric applications, especially fingerprint scanning. In some embodiments, the sensor is a charge coupled device (CCD), or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device. However, it can be replaced with any suitable light sensing device.

2-D sensor array

Two-dimensional sensor arrays are similar to one-dimensional arrays, but the rows of sensor elements have two-dimensional coplanar offsets from each other. The two-dimensional array has an advantage of calculating distance, scan angle, and skew information. In some embodiments, the two-dimensional array consists of at least two parallel columns or rows of sensor elements. However, many topological variations of two dimensional sensor arrays are possible.

Two-dimensional arrays of optical sensor elements allow motion and de-skew at the same time by correlation of character structure (tips, ascender / descender vertical elements), timing, and position. Can be detected. An ascender / descender is a text character that extends above and below the midline of a column of text than the average text character. An example of an ascender is the letter "t". An example of a descender is the letter "p".

Logic processing may determine image skew of the optically captured data. For example, the head angle is determined by correlating strong vertical elements of text printed with optically captured data. Depending on the font, the strong vertical element is in the letter "bdhiklmnpqrtu" in the alphabet consisting of "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz". Also, "y" is the only ascender / descender without vertical strokes. There is also vertical information associated with the left and right edges of the remaining alphabetic characters that can be used in the de-skew process.

lens

In some embodiments, the optical data capture subsystem uses a lens to focus light on the light sensing element. The lens subsystem can be a very useful addition to two-dimensional array optical sensors.

Fiber optic image conduit

In some embodiments, the image conduit forms part of the optical capture system. In some embodiments, the fiber optic image conduit contacts the surface with the capture information. In some embodiments, the fiber optic image conduit is positioned over the surface being scanned to allow more ambient light within the scan area. In this configuration, the limited acceptance angle of the individual optical fiber ensures that the image is of very good quality, even if the tip of the image conduit is slightly away from the surface of the document. An image conduit with a transparent plastic separator or cap at the data capture end (closest to the surface being scanned) allows the fiber optic image conduit to illuminate more ambient light on the surface without contacting the surface being scanned, One embodiment provides a better view of the scanned material. The spacing between the tip and the surface of the image conduit is typically in the range of 0.001 inch to 0.1 inch. Image conduits can be sculpted to allow data capture even when the rendered document is not held vertically. In some embodiments, the image conduit may be carved to have a wedge tip. In some embodiments, the fiber optic image conduits may be transparent or translucent when viewing the light path in reverse, so that the user can view the rendered document through the bundle. Therefore, the image conduit can serve as a viewfinder as well as a means of delivering the scanned image to the optical sensor.

In general, a group of optical fibers may be used to convey the image. This may include a single row of optical fibers, such as in a one-dimensional array; Multiple rows of optical fibers; Or a group or bundle of optical fibers that are not stringent arrangements. In addition, a flexible blush of many optical fibers can be used. In the absence of a fixed arrangement of optical fibers, the relationship between the ends of the individual optical fibers capturing some images and the other ends connected to the sensor elements can be determined experimentally during manufacture or during use.

External fiber optic lighting

In general, optical fiber image conduits may capture data through ambient light, but in some embodiments, optional elements, such as a subset of image conduit optical fibers, may carry light from the light source to the surface of the document. This optical fiber essentially serves as a compact flashlight for illuminating the surface of the rendered document. The remaining fiber captures the illuminated data and sends it back to the image sensor. Typically, in embodiments where the optical fiber image conduit is easily engraved along the surface of the document, essentially the external optical fiber of the image conduit is used to transmit light to the document.

CCD / CMOS optical sensor

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device includes an image sensor. Solid state optical image sensors capture information from computer displays and are a major component of modern digital cameras. One example of a suitable image sensor is a CMOS image sensor. Another example is a CCD image sensor. All of these techniques typically allow a computer chip to measure light as an electrical signal along a grid of sensors. Another example is a linear array of light sensitive photo transistors.

Invisible Spectrum

In some embodiments, the optical scanning subsystem operates in the invisible spectrum. With the ability to detect light in the invisible spectrum, portable scanning devices can capture hidden control symbols printed with ink with UV or IR properties. For documents that include a suitable "writable" area, in some embodiments, the portable data capture device reads and changes the state (chemical, thermal, optical) of this area, thus leaving hidden information. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses special ink (eg, IR) recognizable in the scanner indicating that the document or part of the document has been scanned.

Human / machine readability

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device captures human and machine readable data. An example of human readable data is text. Examples of machine readable data are barcodes, icons, and hidden data (such as written in ink embedded in graphics or with invisible spectral properties).

Capture data from display

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device can also read directly from the display device and thus be used for pointing, highlighting, extracting, underlining, copying, pasting, deleting, etc. directly on the display screen. . This ability can lead to a powerful document editing system, which allows the user to print documents, work directly on the printed version with a handheld scanner (and also interact with the dynamic display), and thus (modified) You can print to the new version. This method combines some of the best features of the paper and digital world.

Data capture from the screen can be made by optically capturing the image shown on the display, or by positioning the portable device attempting to capture the data on the display. This location method retrieves images from memory associated with the display, typically video memory. The computer then retrieves the information displayed at the screen location from its video memory. The information in the video memory can be processed by the OCR application, similar to processing an image captured directly by the portable device.

Biometric detection

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has the ability to capture biometric (voice, fingerprint, retina, DNA) information for security and authentication. As mentioned above, a one-dimensional linear optical array can function as a fingerprint scanner by sweeping a user's finger against the array.

Magnetic script (credit card)

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device may capture data from magnetic scripts commonly used in credit cards, which may be particularly useful for P-commerce (purchase) applications.

Function / Operation Behavior

The processor or other control logic coordinates the overall operation of the portable data capture device. Typically, a processor operates from a program stored in memory. Of special interest to the functionality and operational behavior of the device, the memory stores program instructions relating to the acquisition, storage and processing of data acquired by the optical sensor. The processor may retrieve instructions from memory for obtaining, storing, and processing data from the rendered document.

In various embodiments of a portable data capture device, the processing capability may include data capture; Data, in particular image data processing; Data compression and other image processing; Algorithm and other function caching associated with memory; Communication; And security applications such as encryption / decryption algorithms.

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has various modes and states for interacting with the network and associated computer. For example, in some embodiments, when working with a computer and word processing software, the portable scanner may include a highlighting mode that allows text scanned from a paper document to be highlighted in an electronic document; An underline mode for causing the text scanned from the paper document to be underlined in the electronic document; And a copy mode for allowing text scanned from the paper document to be inserted at the cursor position in the electronic document.

The user can control the portable data capture device through the user interface. For example, the user interface may include a display capable of displaying a menu to the user. The user selects from menu options to control the operation of the handheld scanner.

Some major tasks of the portable data capture device include capturing data from the rendered document; Control of other electronic devices; Status display; Data security and user privacy; Local caching of network data; Keyword processing; Search; And OCR.

Capture / Scan

In some embodiments, the processor may retrieve an image captured by the optical sensor and, if present within this image, performs traditional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) techniques to determine characters.

Time / Location Stamp

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device generates a time and / or location stamp that is used to record the time and location of performing the particular operation. For example, when a user scans text from a document, the portable data capture device generates a time stamp and / or a location stamp associated with the scanned document. The portable data capture device sends this time / location stamp along with the scanned text to the service provider's network or host computer to create a context for the scan. The portable data capture device may use an internal clock for time data, or network time if a time signal from the network is available. GPS and many other methods are available for determining the location of a portable data capture device. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses internal clock and GPS technology for time / location data.

Although location capabilities are primarily described in the context of a GPS receiver, many other location techniques can be used. Some of these technologies include Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), Assisted GPS, Differential GPS (DGPS), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Arrival Angle, Triangulation, and Monitoring of Local Transceiver Pilot Signals. When the portable data capture device sends a networked signal with the base station, such as logic in the network correlating data for signals received at each base station to estimate the location of the portable data capture device, the EOTD (TDOA, and angle of view are best suited.) Triangulation may be internal or external In some embodiments, the signal is received from at least three external transceivers (such as an IEEE 802.11 base station) and the characteristics of the received signal. When calculating the approximate location based on the Performs re-angulation External triangulation when a networked receiver external to the portable data capture device is used to estimate the position of the portable data capture device based on the characteristics of the signal received from the portable data capture device. An example of external triangulation is to use the received signal strength at one or more external receivers to estimate the distance of the portable data capture device from an external receiver. It emits a pilot signal that identifies the particular transmitter to “lock on” the signal from the desired transmitter, since the location of this fixed transmitter and the approximate coverage area are known, the position of the portable data capture device is determined by Can be estimated on the basis For example, if a portable data capture device is receiving a signal from an IEEE802.11 wireless access point, the portable data capture device will be 300 feet of the wireless access point (approximately out of range of the current IEEE802.11 transmitter). Can be assumed to be within.

Control over captured data

The captured data can be placed for various uses in conjunction with the document disambiguation and electronic counterpart locations mentioned above. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device is controlled and programmed through the scanned data. The user can scan the command from an output menu of commands similar to the map key or from simple text. For example, the user can scan a special icon informing the portable data capture device that the next captured data should be processed as a control command. The user scans a command such as "Call Fred" that causes the portable data capture device to perform an action previously associated with the command (in this example, making a call to Fred). Similarly, in some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses the word "buy" when scanned by the device itself (not part of the string) indicating that the user wants to initiate a P-commerce purchase transaction. Can be programmed to recognize.

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device recognizes the control symbols drawn by the user. Thus, the user can easily create a command menu on any part of the paper by drawing the desired command icon or word. The control icon recognized by the system in some embodiments may be "$" (to initiate a P-commerce purchase); "!" (To enter highlight mode); And a phone icon (to indicate that the next number is a phone number that can be stored or dialed in the address book).

When the portable data capture device scans keywords other than those mentioned herein, the behavior of the portable data capture device is a subset of the behaviors available by using the captured control data.

Gesture Control

An intuitive way for the user to interact with the portable data capture device is by gesture with the portable data capture device. User experience is greatly enhanced by associating certain actions and actions with particular gestures. Some of these gestures are described below along with methods of detecting gestures.

The inventors have discovered that a text string of sufficient length can be used to disassemble a document from a pool of documents, or "corpus". The portable data capture device captures an image of the feature (text, icon, etc.) in the rendered document. This image can be processed by the onboard portable document image device (eg, by applying feature extraction techniques) and can be processed by a computer in communication with the portable image device. In general, the captured image corresponds to a sequence of letters of the alphabet and numbers, for example a text fragment. The system creates an electronic counterpart of the paper document and uses text fragments to identify the paper document. Typically, this requires a text fragment of at least the first predetermined length. After the rendered document is disembedded, the electronic counterpart of the paper document is interactable. The scope of the interaction ranges from having an electronic document correspondence delivered to the user, from sending additional subject matter to source documents, sending document map (markup) information, and navigating electronic counterpart documents. To use source documents to do this, to edit the electronic counterparts, and to perform complex financial processes. Preferably, this interaction is done using a portable document image device such as a command input device. It is desirable to have a portable document image device that provides a large number of command inputs and has an intuitive user interface while maintaining a compact size.

In some embodiments, the portable device is controlled by the user's gesture. For example, scanning the text in the forward direction may indicate that the user wishes to store the text in memory. Scanning the same text backwards may indicate that the user wishes to erase the text from memory. Rubbing the text back and forth in the document may indicate that the user wants to highlight the text in the electronic counterpart of the document. This system can use many gestures, such as circular motion, snake motion, and the like, to control the operation of the portable device. Many actions begin the scanning process; A signal that the user has completed scanning from a particular article or document (and therefore subsequent scanned data will be scanned from a new article or document); Highlighting; Deletion of the previous entry; May be associated with a predetermined gesture, such as the like.

In addition, the inventors have found that after a document has been disembedded (and therefore setting the context for subsequent scanning within the document), it is possible to identify a location within the document using shorter text fragments. This identified location can then be used as an anchor point for interaction with the document, such as, for example, annotating the document, editing the document, extracting text and / or images from the document.

In some embodiments, when the portable document data capture device is moved along the surface of the source document, the portable document data capture device can be configured to capture a frame of a series of image data. In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device may be configured to capture a series of at least partially overlapped images when used within certain limited speeds. The size of the overlap should typically be sufficient for X-Y operation between frames to be calculated. This portable document data capture device is configured to extract a feature from a frame of captured image data. This portable document imaging device can use an optical character recognition scheme to convert the captured image into text, and then use a stitching algorithm to construct a text string from the captured image data, or The character offset on every stitched frame of the image data can be used to enhance the representation, or the difference in pixelation of subsequent frames of the image data can be used to calculate the relative position. Optical character recognition is used to generate a text string, which may be horizontal or vertical with respect to the page. The portable document data capture device is operatively connected to a database that associates a command input with a predetermined action (gesture) of the portable document data capture device with respect to the source document. The portable document data capture device can be pre-configured with a gesture / command input pairing library and can be trained by the user. Additionally, the gesture may be "overloaded" causing performance of the same gesture to cause the execution of different command inputs that depend on the context of the gesture, eg, a time frame or location in the document.

In some embodiments, the user captures an image of one section of the source document by moving the portable document image device from left to right along the text line of the source document. First, the portable document image device determines whether the source document has been disassembled. If the source document has not been disassembled, extract the document feature from the frame of captured image data and communicate the extracted feature to a computer that in turn uses the extracted feature to disassemble the source document. . If the source document has already been disembedded, the portable document image device extracts the document feature, uses the extracted feature to locate within the document, and selects the corresponding area / text in the electronic document.

As an example of how a gesture is overloaded with respect to a location in a document, moving the portable document image device twice from left to right on substantially the same area of the source document causes the text in the selected area to be underlined. As another example of how the same gesture is overloaded with respect to a location within a document, moving the portable document image device three times from left to right on substantially the same area of the source document makes the text in the selected area bold.

In some embodiments, moving the portable document image device from right to left on substantially all previously selected areas of the source document prevents previous command input from being performed. For example, according to the preceding description of the overloaded left-to-right linear gesture, if the user has moved the portable document image device once from right to left on the selected area with the selected area thickened, the text in the selected area is bold. Will change from underline to underline. Moving the portable document image device once from right to left on the selected area causes the text in the selected area to change to the initial format, and repeating the right to left operation three times completely deselects the selected area.

To illustrate the benefits of overloading, in some embodiments, moving the portable document image device from right to left over a portion of a previously selected area of the source document causes a portion of the previously selected area / text to be deleted.

In some examples, a user may wish to interact with a relatively large block of text, such as copying or deleting one or multiple paragraphs. In some embodiments, the user moves the portable document image device from left to right to establish a start position, and moves the portable document image device from left to right to establish an end position. The portable document image device uses a text string (or a symbolic representation thereof) to determine the start and end of the selected area. Subsequent command inputs then function in the selected area. For example, in some embodiments, if the user moves the portable document image device in a "X" pattern between the start and end positions, the area of the source document between the start and end positions is deleted. Similarly, in some embodiments, if the user moves back and forth while moving the portable document image device down the page, such as in a zigzag pattern, the selected area is deleted. If the user moves the portable document image device down within the selected area, the selected area will be highlighted. In some embodiments, if the user moves the portable document image device in a circular manner in the selected area, the selected area is copied.

In some embodiments, the user uses a circular action to select an area of the source document. The system typically substantially maintains the format of the source document that should be in the electronic document, or uses the translation information in the markup document to map the layout of the paper document to the electronic counterpart. The portable document image device uses features extracted from a series of frames of image data to determine whether the portable document image device moves in a circular pattern, and to determine the location of a selected area within an electronic document using a character mapping scheme. Use the feature. In some embodiments, different command inputs are associated with clockwise circular motion and counterclockwise circular motion, respectively.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner recognizes and operates the control based on the gesture. For example, in some embodiments, a portable scanner scans text by passing an optical sensor over the text and then stores it in memory in the scanner. By passing the optical sensor over the text in the opposite direction, the text is deleted from memory. In some embodiments, by scanning in a circle, a user can highlight the circular text in an electronic document in a word processing program on the scanner's host computer.

Motion detection

In order to detect and operate gesture based commands, a portable data capture device must be able to detect and interpret motion. Various methods of detecting an action and mapping the action to a gesture command are described below. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device calculates a motion vector between subsequent image captures to identify the gesture.

In some embodiments, the portable scanner launches a gesture interpretation application each time an action is detected. One way of detecting motion is to compare successively captured images, such as an optical mouse. In some embodiments, the first image is analyzed for a pattern. The processor uses software instructions to bring this image into memory, and then finds a portion of the image that is different from the background (eg, identifying black text on a white background). The processor records the location of this pattern and what pattern it is in memory. The processor then loads the second image and attempts to detect the original pattern. Next, compare how the position of the pattern has changed with the first image. This difference is encoded as a vector. By repeating this process, a series of vectors is formed. Similar to "connection of points", these line segments, or vectors, can determine the sequence of motions.

In some embodiments, the processor may find a vector between pixels (or some representative pixels) in the first and second images. To calculate the vector between the images, the processor first compares the images along the horizontal axis and then the images along the vertical axis to determine the path of travel of the device during the period between the capture of the first and second images. The processor then moves every pixel in the first image one pixel to the right (with some pixels no longer part of this image). The processor then recalculates this vector. If this vector is shorter, the processor moves the pixels until there is no horizontal distance between the pixels. If this vector is longer, the processor moves the pixel to the left. After the horizontal component of the motion vector is determined, the processor repeats the comparison along the vertical axis to determine the vertical component of the motion vector. When the processor calculates the vertical and horizontal components of the motion vector, it knows the relative linear motion between the first and second images.

Determination of the intended gesture

In some embodiments, the computation of the motion vector follows with an effort to determine if the gesture is intended. The complexity of this step may depend on the presence of the gesture classification. For example, if the scanner recognizes only one gesture of, for example, a backward, the classification will not need to consider any vertical component of the operation. In some embodiments, such as embodiments in which the scanner only recognizes gestures of backwards, as described herein, multiple vectors may be replaced with a single representative vector. For example, if a user attempts to scan perfectly horizontal but slightly shakes vertically, the scanner can determine that the user intended the horizontal line, and replace many vectors with one horizontal vector.

Backward and forward

An intuitive and basic method of gesture with a portable data capture device is to scan forward and backward along a line of text. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device recognizes the movement of the forward and backward along a line of text by comparing the scanned text template with the scanned text image. By way of example, using the English alphabet, if the scanned character matches the template, the scanner has moved from left to right (forward). If the scanned text is a mirror image of the template, the scanner has moved from right to left (reverse). In some embodiments, the backward and forward movements are determined by the aforementioned vector method.

Circle

 Another intuitive and basic method of gesture with a portable data capture device is to circle a region of text. In some embodiments, the circular gesture is identified by the aforementioned vector method. In some embodiments, the portable data capture device uses absolute position information to detect circular movement. One way of obtaining absolute position information is to obtain information, for example, from a document having an encoded grid printed on the document. Each image taken by this device contains absolute position information that can be used to determine the movement of this device relative to the document surface.

When using a vector approach, the processor adds all of the motion vectors to determine if the vector intersects the start of another vector, in particular the first vector. In combination with the circular gesture detection technique, a vector is used to determine if there is an intersection, and then absolute position analysis is used to determine if such an intersection actually occurred.

8 shows the steps typically performed by the system to detect that the user made a circular gesture. In step 800, when the system detects a new basic gesture, this step begins. In step 810, the system determines if there is an intersection in this gesture itself. 9 shows some examples of a user's attempt to perform a circular gesture. The first gesture 900 intersects at 910. In this example, the beginning and the end of this operation are actually when they cross each other and are therefore detected as crossings. The second gesture 920 shows a gesture that may be determined to be a circle. Start and end are closest to each other at 930. In some embodiments, this distance may be within an error that can be considered to be an intersection. The third gesture 940 shows a gesture that cannot be considered a circle. In some embodiments, the distance between two close points 950 and 960 is too far to be considered as an intersection (but some embodiments may be programmed to accept even this). If this gesture was crossed with itself, then the processor of original detection continues to step 820 of FIG. 8 considering the vertical component of the system. If the gesture did not intersect itself, it returns to this iteration to wait for a new gesture. In some embodiments, the vertical component may be considered to confirm that the gesture is not a rubbing gesture that the user does not want to interpret as a circle. In some embodiments, the vertical component may be the difference between the highest point and the lowest point reached during the gesture. In some embodiments, this stage can be determined by comparing this difference with a threshold, and the processor determines if the gesture is not a circle. If this component is satisfied, the system continues to step 830 considering the horizontal component. Horizontal evaluation is performed similarly to vertical evaluation. If the gesture meets all of these standards (cross, vertical and horizontal), the system classifies it as a circle in step 840. If one of these criteria is not satisfied, the process returns to step 800 to wait for a new gesture.

Rubbing

Rubbing a string of text back and forth is another intuitive and basic gesture that can be used to control a portable image data capture device. In some embodiments, rubbing gestures back and forth may be interpreted as highlighting commands. For example, a user may perform a series of scans with a forward gesture and a scan target with a rubbing gesture. In response, the scanner may flag the text identified by the rubbing operation so that the portion is highlighted in subsequent retrieval (eg, this “rubbed” text is above the lightened portion). In another embodiment, the text indicated by the forward gesture may be underlined.

10 is a flow diagram illustrating steps typically performed by a system to detect a rubbing gesture. As described herein, the rubbing gesture is vertically up and down; In some cases, the user rubs the string of text horizontally back and forth. In the process shown in FIG. 10, a new basic gesture begins at step 1000. In step 1010, the system detects a direction other than that described, and in step 1020, the system detects a change in direction. In step 1030, the system evaluates the change in direction to see if the direction is inverse of the previous direction of travel. In some embodiments, the reverse is defined when the point between 170 and 190 degrees from the end of the previous vector is the new vector (exactly the opposite direction is 180 degrees).

If the new direction is not reverse (in some embodiments, including the termination of scanning), the system continues to wait for a new gesture to step 1000. If this new direction is inverse, then the system continues to step 1040 to detect another direction change. From step 1040, the system continues with step 1050 to determine if this new direction is the second reverse. If the third direction of operation is inverse to the second direction, the system continues to step 1060 to perform the predetermined action associated with the rubbing gesture.

Backward for deletion

In some embodiments, the forward scan causes the scanner to store the scanned information in memory. If this scan, or its section, is scanned with a subsequent backward gesture, this portion scanned in the backward direction is deleted from the memory. By way of example, FIG. 11 shows the scanner 1100 moving in the backward direction 1110 in the document 1120. Text captured and stored in memory by a previous forward scan is shown by box 1130. Box 1140 shows the text scanned in the backward direction from the rightmost character, which is the "first" character captured by the backward scan. When the text in box 1140 is captured by a backward scan, each character is compared with a previously scanned string. The scanner 1110 compares the first (rightmost) character by the backward scan with the last (rightmost) character of the forward scan and, in a similar manner, matching the characters from the backward scan with the scanned string. Continue until it's over. The scanner stops comparing two strings when it encounters a character in a backwards scan that does not match the character of the corresponding position in the forward scan. After this comparison stops, the scanner deletes the matched characters from memory.

By observing the direction in which the scanning sensor stitches the image of each character together, the scanner detects the palindrome and does not interpret it as a delete gesture. The system detects palindrome by observing the direction in which the scan occurs. Palindrome scanned in the forward (left to right) direction will be constructed by subsequent left to right image stitching. Scanning from right to left (backward) will capture a text image starting from the right side of the text and moving to the left. In English, this right-to-left shift results in an image that is a mirror image of the initial left-to-right scan. The Palindrome character will not be a mirror image and can therefore be distinguished from a reverse scan.

Gesture and computer monitor

In some embodiments, gesture commands can be used as documents rendered on a computer display. For example, a user may gesture an insertion sign (“^”) scan on a computer monitor to identify where the text was inserted. In this example, the scanner communicates with the computer and recognizes the insert sign gesture as a command to insert text at the location indicated. In response, the computer inserts text from the last forward scan.

In some embodiments, the scanner may be used to interact with the computer in a similar manner as a mouse, joystick, or other pointing device. For example, the scanner can function like a joystick by keeping the pointing down vertically. When the user tilts this joystick or moves it in the direction given by the movement, this movement can be reflected as a change in the image of the scanner. For example, if the scanner is tilted forward, the image sensors may each be further skewed and recorded as a series of images moving in opposite directions. By mapping how much of the part of this image has moved or skewed, the scanner can determine how far it has been moved. As another example, a user may scroll through a document on a computer monitor by using a handheld scanner as the computer pointing accessory.

Control of other devices and association with other devices

In some embodiments, this portable data capture device can control other electronic devices, use other electronic devices to enhance its own user interface (eg, by using a computer display), and For example, by using the scanned data tree, it is possible to enhance the user interface of other electronic devices.

After setting the context by scanning another identifier or title (if necessary) from the rendered document, the portable device can be used to indicate the desired action by scanning. For example, a user can program his video recorder (VCR) by scanning code that identifies a document, such as a television guide, followed by a scan of the VCR + code. The VCR + code is communicated with the VCR by IR communication so that the VCR performs certain operations associated with the code.

In particular, scanners around the device with Bluetooth, USB, or IEEE 802.11 connections can be used to define programming behavior. Scanning of frozen food packages around the microwave can set an appropriate cooking time. In the context of a car, address scanning can cause the scanner to program the car's onboard navigation system to that address.

The user control interface of the other device can be enhanced by the capabilities of the portable data capture device. In essence, the portable data capture device controls the other device by scanning information from the paper. In a typical system, the portable data capture device converts the scanned information into instructions for another device with Bluetooth pairing.

Association with Nialby devices

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device is paired with a host machine. The host machine is preferably a computer, PDA device, or mobile communication device such as a mobile phone or Blackberry ™ text messaging device. The exchange of authentication and security information is part of the pairing process between the portable data capture device and the host device. Portable data capture devices perform authentication and security procedures before interacting with a host device that is not currently connected. The security procedure may optionally include a user identification procedure, such as biometric identification.

12 shows a block diagram of a system configuration for associating a portable scanner with a Nialby device. Mobile device 1218 can interact or integrate with portable scanner function 1210. Portable scanner 1210, a scanner designed to be conveniently delivered by a person, may be a pen-type device, mouse, remote control, or portable phone. The portable scanner 1210 may include near field communication capability (eg, near field RF such as Bluetooth ™, near field wire such as USB, etc.), and the near field communication capability may be used to communicate with the mobile device 1218. . This scanner includes a user ID code 1222 that uniquely identifies the scanner among other such scanners in the system.

Examples of mobile device 1218 include a laptop, notebook, or sub notebook computer; Portable computers such as PDAs; Or other cordless phone. In some embodiments, scanner function 1210 and mobile device 1218 are the same device.

If possible, along with other information, the information captured by handheld scanner 1210 in one or more scans is in communication with network 1202 in communication with content location and retrieval service 1206. In some embodiments, this information may initiate a content request / location / search operation. Information from at least one scan can be obtained from a printed source, such as a newspaper, magazine, leaflet, book, manual, pamphlet, label, or advertisement. In addition, information from one or more scans may be obtained from electrical or digitally displayed information, such as text, barcodes, icons, pictures, or other information from an electronic display.

Mobile device 1218 provides a wider range of communication capabilities to network 1202. Examples of such communications include standard public switched telephone networks (eg, using dial-up modems), digital subscriber lines, asynchronous digital subscriber lines, cable modems, Ethernet, broadband LAN technologies, wireless LAN technologies such as IEEE 802.11, and wireless cell phones. Technology.

Network 1202 includes communications switching, routing, and data storage capabilities. In particular, network 1202 routes and transmits information between components of the system. Network 1202 may include the Internet, intranet or intranets, wired and / or wireless network portion.

Device database 1204 includes information about handheld scanner 1210, a device that may be associated with mobile device 1218 under some embodiments and / or some conditions. In some embodiments, device database 1204 provides a device address and association to the device identifier. The device database 1204 also provides the content types supported for the association of device identifiers. In some embodiments, device database 1204 includes one or more of an associated database, indexes, mapping tables, and enhanced domain name services.

Device association 1208 configures an association between a handheld scanner and an input / output (I / O), storage, or processing device. In some embodiments, device database 1204 and device association 1208 are other functions that can be accessed separately, for example, by other functions by content retrieval unit 1206. In some embodiments, device association 1208 and device database 1204 may be integrated into components of common functionality.

The content retrieval unit 1206, in particular, communicates with the device database 1204 and the device association 1208 to obtain device information and device related information. In some embodiments, device database 1204 and / or device association 1208 communicate with content retrieval unit 1206 using a network, such as network 1202.

The device database 1204, this device association 1208, and the content retrieval unit 1206 may constitute a “service provider”. Service providers are network accessible providers of information and / or services that meet client requests. The service provider may provide reservation-based, ad support, per-use-pay, and content and / or communication service processing-per-pay.

The content retrieval unit 1206 includes a content location and retrieval function. The content is at least one of text, digital sound or music, or one or more digital images or videos. This content search 1206 has identified, related, and / or corresponding content by the information scanned by the portable scanner 1210.

The content retrieval unit 1206 communicates with the network 1202 and provides the located content to I / O, storage, or processing devices associated with the portable scanner 1210.

The associating device is in particular an image / video rendering system 1212 or an audio rendering system 1214. Some devices (eg, integrated device 1216) include audio and image / video systems 1212, 1214. Examples of such integrated device 1216 include laptop computers, desktop computers, televisions, multi-user computer systems or kiosks.

Other devices that may be associated with the handheld scanner 1210 include a data storage device 1220 or a printer. Examples of data storage device 1220 include computer hard drives, portable flash storage devices, portable music and / or video and / or ebook players (eg, portable content players), and optical storage media. Computational resources such as laptops, desktops, and network-based computers may be associated with the handheld scanner 1210 to enhance the processing power associated with the scanner 1210.

Identifying the device to which content is to be delivered may include receiving a device identifier for the associated device. The device identifier may be provided by the portable device 1218 or scanner 1210 associated with the scanner. Examples of device identifiers may be bar codes, unique device serial numbers, network addresses such as Internet protocol addresses, alphanumeric codes, or unique device names.

In some embodiments, the network address of the associated device is required but the identifier of the associated device is not. In some cases, the system can operate without a full understanding of the capabilities of the associated device. In other cases, the ability can be deduced. For example, if the device requests a communication session identifier via a web browser, and the scanner subsequently submits the communication session identifier to the system, the device will have a display from which the session identifier is scanned.

In some embodiments, one or more devices are "registered" by a user of the scanner to be associated with a unique user (or device) ID that identifies the scanner. For example, a laptop computer owned by a user of a scanner may be registered as a "device # 1" associated with a unique user and / or device ID of the scanner. (The associated device identifier will therefore be very simple if there is a limited number of devices registered by a single user.) The associated device may include logic to automatically register the current network address with the service provider (network address). For example, because laptops move to new locations and change frequently each time they establish new connections with the Internet). This simplifies the user's work when initiating a new session with the service provider. This is because the user only scans the identifier of the associated device and automatically passes the command to the service provider to refer to the associated device, retrieve the current network address and forward the subsequent system response to the designated device. . In addition, the management of the service provider's system is straightforward because there is no need to create and maintain a unique set of identifiers on every device known to the service provider. Each user of the service simply needs to register the device to be used, and does not need to apply (and later apply) a complex device identifier such as a long serial number.

In addition, selecting a device from a narrow area of the device associated with a given scanner (and / or user) allows the use of various methods to identify the desired device. For example, the device may be identified by scanning the selected icon or by performing a particular gesture with the scanner.

The device identifier may be provided by scanning it and delivering it to a content location and storage 1206 (service provider) system. In some embodiments, the system allows the device identifier to appear on the visual display of the device so that it can be scanned by the handheld scanner 1210. The user can scan the device identifier from the serial number attached to the device or from the barcode attached to the device. The identifier of the associated device may be provided with or before the content request / location / search operation by scanner 1210.

In some embodiments, the system selects one or more devices to associate with the handheld scanner 1210 because it is at least partially close to the location of the handheld scanner 1210. In some embodiments, the system may use GPS satellite location information, triangulated information using multiple RF transceivers, and / or handheld scanner 1210 using Wi-Fi or other wireless access point location in use near the handheld scanner 1210. ) Location.

In some embodiments, the system associates with a handheld scanner by examining a characteristic of the type of positioned content (eg, whether it is text, video, or audio) and determining if a nearby candidate device supports rendering of the content type. Select one or more devices to make.

In some embodiments, the device identifier for the associated device is used to identify the network address of the associated device. The device identifier is a unique ID that distinguishes the device from all other devices known to the system, or acts to uniquely identify the device to the system, with a unique user and / or device ID 1222 associated with the scanner 1210. It may be an identifier. The network address includes, among other possibilities, an IP address, a MAC address, a URL, or a device name or identifier that is recognized by the network 1202 as being a specific device to which information is conveyed.

In some embodiments, the system delivers the positioned content to the associating device by configuring the associating device for exclusive use by the person using the handheld scanner 1210 as long as the handheld scanner 1210 is associated with the device. . Configuring the associated device for exclusive access by the person using scanner 1210 is particularly important in an air or semi-air environment.

In some embodiments, the system provides portable scanner 1210 and / or associated portable device 1218 with access to information controlled by the I / O or storage device with which the access is associated. Examples of such information are information that enables and / or facilitates the functionality of the scanner 1210 and may include tables and parameters that facilitate keyword definitions, document indexes, OCR / or speech recognition.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary query session associated with a scan device and a service provider. In this embodiment, the session oriented application is a web browser.

The handheld scanner 1210 interacts with and captures information from the computer system including the display 1302. Examples of computer systems include desktops, laptops, or portable computers, PDAs, or cellular or other wireless phones. The computer system includes web browser 1304 logic. Web browser 1304 generally communicates over a network with a server. Servers include interalias, web servers, CGI scripter servers, private network (intranet) servers, or servers in wired or wireless telephone support networks.

The web browsing session is specified by the session identifier (session ID 1306). Session ID 1306 is a code that uniquely identifies a browser communication session. Examples of session IDs 1306 are HTTP protocol IDs as well as other protocol session IDs. In some embodiments, when the web browser 1304 is configured to load a web page from a URL that specifies a website belonging to the service provider 1308, the service provider 1308 requests the request from the web browser 1304. Record the network address associated with the < RTI ID = 0.0 > and < / RTI > The service provider 1308 records the association (eg, in the device association database 1208) of the unique session ID coat 1306 and the network address of the device providing the web browser 1304 application.

Session identifier 1306 may be displayed to a user of browser 1304. Specific functionality may be provided to web browser 1304 such that session identifier 1306 may be displayed. The handheld scanner 1210 causes the service provider 1308 to communicate with the service provider 1308 to the service provider 1308 with a unique session ID code 1306 scanned along with a unique scanner and / or user ID 1222. Deliver using one or more network communication channels. This includes a request to the service provider 1308 to initiate a query session. The response to a later scan (eg, a later query) is passed to the web browser 1304 at the network address previously associated with the session ID 1306. In some embodiments, the system may display a query that may be displayed on a web browser 1304 that assures the user that the system has correctly identified the user and the purpose of initiating a query session via the associated device 1302. Respond to the Session Initiation Request Acknowledgment. When a user ends a query session, for example, an "end session" icon or command may be scanned from the display of the associating device 1302 and passed to the service provider 1308 to end the current session. have. The service provider 1308 then clears the display in the web browser 1304 (removing any potentially sensitive information previously displayed in the session) and scans for a new unique session ID to initiate a new curry session. Display code 1306. Similarly, after a predetermined time interval while no communication is received from the scanner 1210 by the service provider 1308, the session will automatically time out and similarly terminate.

After passing the query session initiation request, the handheld scanner 1210 scans the information from the printed source. The scanned information includes text, barcodes, pictograms, and / or identifiers of other printed sources. The scanned information includes the product name, barcode, company name, logo, trademark, or other identifier of the product. The scanned information includes song titles, artist names, poem names, and / or different identifiers of music content. The scanned information may include image names, captions, headings, and / or other identifiers of image content, or movie titles, actor names, producer names, director names, studio names, product names, or other identifiers of video content.

Along with other possible additional information, the information captured by the at least one scan (including the scanned session ID 1306) will be incorporated into the content request. The scanned information will be passed to the service provider 1308 under one or more communications. The service provider 1308 will apply the session ID code 1306 to deliver the content back to the web browser 1304 at least partially. This will allow the web browser 1304 to receive the content delivered as a result of the activity of the handheld scanner 1210.

The delivered content may include an electronic version of the printed document from which the information is scanned, digital music associated with the information in the scan, digital phonogram, audio news or commentary, audio product information, or other recorded or combined sound, at least one digital Images, digital photographs, product images or videos, news reports or cartoons of video, or other digital images or videos.

14 is an operational flow diagram illustrating interactions performed between devices by a system to provide content to a scanner associated device.

In interaction 1402, a display device including web browser logic forwards a request to a service provider (eg, a system that includes a device association and / or device database) to device with the network address associated with the browser. Generate a unique session ID code that is recorded in the association database. At interaction 1404, a unique session ID is generated and passed back to the browser at the associated network address. At interaction 1406, a unique session ID is scanned from the displayed location. At interaction 1408, a query session initiation request is passed to the service provider that includes a unique user and / or scanner ID and a unique session ID code. The service provider applies the unique session ID code that is included in the request issued at interaction 1408 to identify the network address recorded in the device association database, and the query session acknowledgment is identified at interaction 1410. It is delivered to the device at the network address. The browser displays the query session request acknowledgment to the user of the scanner. The service provider also records in the device association database that the unique session ID is now "owned" by the user of the scanner, ie no other portable scanning device can be associated with this session ID. The service provider associates a unique user and / or scanner ID with the currently established session ID code and associated network address.

In interaction 1412, the scanner passes the scanned information REQ to the content retrieval function. The content search determines the content to be provided in response to the scanned information.

In some embodiments, the content type is passed to the device database at interaction 1414. The content type may be used, at least in part, to determine which associated device is most suitable for rendering the content if one or more devices are currently active and associated with the scanner. If a suitable device for the content is identified as not available, the link or content itself to that content is stored in a database and a predetermined address for the user so that such content can be accessed later when the appropriate rendering device is available. Will be emailed or otherwise maintained.

At interaction 1416, the device database passes the associated device address or network address to the content search. At interaction 1418, content search provides the content to the associated device.

In some embodiments, the system associates a storage device with a user's scanner for the purpose of storing electronic content (audio, video, digital documents, etc.) delivered by the system in response to a scan of a printed document. For example, by scanning an identifier that uniquely identifies a device having a storage capability (such as a computer with a hard drive, a recordable DVD, a CD-ROM, etc.), the system can scan a printed document (from a mobile scanner). Future delivery of content responsive to the corresponding storage device will be delivered to the corresponding storage device and modified in its database for later retrieval.

In some embodiments, the system will determine a user's location and nearby devices that may be associated with the user's portable electronic device. The system may use the user's location as a method of board-mounted GPS in a portable device, triangulation of wireless signals, to determine the location of a communication network transceiver supporting the device, to query a user, or other suitable method. Will decide.

In some embodiments, the system maintains a device database having location information for I / O devices used in conjunction with a portable scanning device. When the system receives a request from the portable scanner for association with an I / O device, the system determines the location of the portable scanner and then identifies the appropriate candidate group by referring to the device database.

In some embodiments, the system allows a user to preset the association of the device with the portable scanner. In one embodiment, the user will want his home computer to be designated as the recipient of content requests from his scanner. To do this, the user manually enters the identifier of the device and the data store (eg, home computer) that is supposed to access the service provider's website and receive a response to the scanned query. Alternatively, the system uses various scanning methods discussed throughout the specification to automatically identify the receiving device.

In some embodiments, the public kiosk displays a dynamic session ID. Kiosk is connected to a communications network such as the Internet or a corporate intranet. The connection may be by cable modem, telephone system (PSTN, ADSL, DSL, cellular, etc.), wireless local area network (WLAN, IEEE802.11, etc.) or other suitable access method. The session ID changes periodically, but at least each time a kiosk is used so that a new session ID can be displayed to every new user. To use a kiosk, the user scans within the session ID displayed by the kiosk; By scanning the session ID, the user is informed that the system wants to temporarily associate the scanner with the kiosk for delivery of content resulting from the scanning of the printed document. The scanner passes the session ID and information for authenticating the scanner (serial number, account number, or other identifying information) directly to the system (via wireless communication, such as a cellular short message service, or a link of a kiosk to the communication network). By using). For example, the scanner will apply the kiosk communication link by conveying session initiation information to the kiosk (via a near field RF such as Bluetooth). The kiosk then forwards the session initiation information to the service provider's system via an internet connection. The scanner delivers the session initiation message through the user's cellular phone (paired with the user's scanner via Bluetooth) directly to the service provider's system (here, "direct" means delivery of the message through the kiosk). There is no communication).

In some embodiments, the system prevents others from using the device associated with the scanner during the period (session) in which the device is associated with the scanner. This feature is very useful to prevent others from using a public kiosk before the previous session ends. As an example of this concept related to the use of a computer in an internet cafe, a user initiates a session by scanning a session ID from a kiosk display (or filling in via a keypad or touchscreen on a handheld scanner); The system uses the session ID in its database to determine the serial number of his scanner (or other identifier that uniquely identifies the user and / or the user's scanner) to prevent other scanners from scanning the session ID and using the kiosk during his session. Associate with the session ID. The scanner can communicate with the computer associated with the display (via a wireless link such as Bluetooth, a hardwired link such as a docking station), or directly (without a computer) to the service provider system by other means, such as a cell phone. Can be.

In some embodiments, the functionality of the handheld scanner may vary depending on the associated device. For example, if the handheld scanner is associated with a nearby computer that has OCR capability, the scanner will deliver the scanned image data to the computer, and if the associated computer does not have OCR capability, the handheld scanner will translate the scanned image into text. We will apply the onboard OCR feature to the conversion and pass this text to the service provider.

In some embodiments, the scanner obtains a communication session identifier from the computer by wireless communication (eg, a Bluetooth link) rather than scanning. For example, after the handheld scanner makes a Bluetooth connection with the computer, rather than displaying it on the computer display for the user to scan with the handheld scanner, the computer uses the Bluetooth connection to convey the communication session identifier to the scanner.

In some embodiments, the system enhances the user interface for the portable electronic device by associating another device with better video or audio capabilities than the portable electronic device. For example, a subscriber waiting for a flight at an airport browsers a television guide and finds out which show he wants to watch. Using a web browser on his computer to browser the service provider's website, the subscriber can obtain a communication session identifier that is passed to his laptop computer. Scanning the information identifying the show from the communication session identifier and the television guide, the subscriber identifies the laptop computer as the location where the video content (TV show) he wants to have is delivered. The system is responsible for providing the subscriber with appropriate rights to access the content (e.g., he has a 'cable TV' service contract; if broadband internet access is required for the video delivery before he transfers it to the laptop computer; Check whether you have a broadband service contract, etc.).

Personal computer

In some embodiments, the portable document data gap device controls the operation of the personal computer. The portable device delivers data and instructions to the PC that cause the PC to run a software application and / or perform other operations. For example, when making a PowerPoint presentation with a computer and an LCD projector, the user can control the operation of the computer by scanning a copy of the document of the PowerPoint slide. The user scans the information from the slides and causes the computer to advance the slides. The portable device can be used to control word processing software, web browsers, and other software applications from the rendered document. The user can edit the electronic document, make a purchase through the Internet, and deliver a message by controlling the personal computer with the portable device.

edit

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device can act as a data input device for the host computer. The portable device and host computer work with word processing software to form a powerful document editing system.

The document editing system reflects and / or interprets the user's movements on the printed surface as editing instructions for the document in a word processing application on the computer. By the use of a portable device, a user allows word processing software to perform various functions such as bookmarks, highlighting / underlined / bold / italic text, cutting, copying, pasting, searching, saving and printing.

In some embodiments, the color of the highlight indicator on the portable device indicates the color of the highlight that will appear in the digital copy. In some embodiments, the colored light may be reflected off the paper to indicate to the user the color of the accent that appears in the digital copy, the state of the capture device, and so forth.

VCR

In some embodiments, the portable data gap device can control the video recording device. For example, by capturing data from a television guide, the portable device can deliver a command to program the video recording device to record a given television program. In some embodiments, the portable device can communicate commands to the video recording device by infrared (IR) communication.

Status indicator

The user interface of the portable data capture device can inform the user about the current state of the device. The device may alert the user by visual, audio, and tactile indicators. Some more useful user interface status indicators will be described below, but this is not all possible listings.

Enough scan indicator

In some embodiments, the portable capture device instructs the user that sufficient information has been captured to identify the document. For example, the handheld scanner may store a predetermined threshold indicating that a particular scan uniquely identified a document. If the threshold is met or exceeded, the handheld scanner instructs the user that sufficient information has been scanned to identify the document via the user interface. This predetermined threshold may be determined based on a heuristic (ie, informal method), statistical analysis, or other suitable method.

The portable data capture device instructs the user that sufficient information has been scanned by the visual, audio and tactile capabilities of the user interface. If it is determined that the scanned information meets or exceeds a predetermined threshold, the processor of the device will instruct the user interface to inform the user that enough information has been scanned to identify the document whose information is being scanned.

In some embodiments, sufficient scan indicators indicate various levels of confidence in the "sufficiency" of the scan. For example, red light can indicate that insufficient text has been captured, yellow light can indicate that text with as much as 50% of fullness has been captured, and green light can indicate that almost enough text has been captured. have.

How to Determine Sufficiency

In some embodiments, the system uses a heuristic method based on observation of the unique character of the written representation to determine the sufficiency threshold. Most documents can be uniquely identified with fewer than 10 words (20-50 characters or symbols). This heuristic can be applied to any language tested. If a scan of the 4-10 word range results in a duplicated document, the user may be prompted to scan additional words for narrower results.

Processing logic in the portable device can determine whether the scan can uniquely identify the source document. In some embodiments, the sufficiency threshold is a parameterized informal method based on observations of previous scans. For example, the scanner can be programmed so that 8 words are unique (where "word" is a series of characters between runs). Alternatively, the scanner may be programmed with a sufficiency threshold that requires that the captured text all have at least six words longer than three characters each. Another approach is to determine that the scan is unique after a scan of some physical distance (e.g. a 4 inch scan of text will be more than half of one line of a standard width page). Another approach is to set thresholds based on the character being scanned rather than words (eg, scanning is only unique after 40 characters). Alternatively, scan sufficiency may be determined by sending the scanned text to a search engine and receiving the search results. If the search engine sends a unique match, the scan is enough. Another way to determine that scans are unique is to design to convey information that is uniquely identified when embedded data such as two-dimensional barcodes are found.

The context affects the amount of information captured to identify the document or a specific location within the document. If the system knows more context for a particular scan, shorter syntax is required for uniqueness. In known documents, the system calculates a subindex indicating what is needed to be unique in the document. That is, because the system knows all the text in the document, the system can determine whether the combination of characters and / or words is ambiguous. How much text should be captured to clarify in a particular document is a function of the total number of characters in the document, word length, and how many times the word is used in the document. Mathematically, one example of such a relationship is: sufficiency = f (total number of characters, number of repeated characters, word length).

The threshold method allows the portable data capture device to instruct the user in real time whether the captured text is unique or not.

 When using a method of passing a search to a search engine, uniqueness is determined by one or zero hits, that is, the other indexed documents do not have content that matches the search query.

 When using the word count threshold to determine the sufficiency of the scan, the length of the scanned word affects the number of words needed to fully identify the document or area. Long words generally have more clarity than short words. Thus, the word "amalgamation" has a clearer value than the word "the". The word length can be determined by observing whether there is a white margin in the character string, even before OCR. A large number of characters with no white space in the middle indicate long words with high clear values. A small number of characters separated by a large number of white spaces means a short word with a lower clear value.

Information about font size, color and font type is very useful for clarity. Knowing these features can reduce the amount of text needed to identify a document or area.

Embedded control data indicator

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device alerts the user when the user encounters control data embedded in the document. For example, you can warn users when they encounter a known keyword. As another example, the portable device may alert the user to an active area set in the document with a markup layer. As another example, the device may warn the user when encountering control data or two-dimensional barcodes embedded in ink having invisible properties (eg, UV / IR inks).

Context indicator

In some embodiments, the portable device indicates to the user whether the device recognizes or does not recognize the current context (eg, if the device knows the document the user is currently working on or the identity of an area within a known document, etc.). . The context "lock" is particularly useful for p-commerce applications. For example, the context indicator informs the user that the system knows that it is scanning an item from the system's catalog. Thus, it is assured that the correct item was purchased from the correct vendor. In some embodiments, the context indicator displays the name or other identifying information of the rendered document.

Online / offline indicator

In some embodiments, the portable device alerts the user whether it is operating in online or offline mode. If the device is online, it has an active connection to the network of the host computer or service provider. If the device is offline, it is not communicating with another system device.

Data capture indicator

In some embodiments, the device indicates to the user that it is capturing data or is otherwise operating correctly.

Error indicator

In some embodiments, the device warns the user of the error. For example, the device may emit a beep to warn the user that a paper document has been identified but the user is not authorized to access the electronic counterpart of the paper document. As another example, the device may indicate to the user that the last scan should be repeated; Access is denied to the host computer or service provider network; Document delivery did not occur (eg, the user's library archive did not receive / accept documents); The portable device is out of memory; The battery can be discharged.

Highlighting color indicator

In some embodiments, the portable device can show the user what color the highlighting feature appears. In some embodiments, the host computer shows the color of the current highlight mode on the display (eg, yellow means that the word processing software is highlighted in yellow).

Security / Privacy

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has a security and privacy process in which an unauthorized user cannot use the device, data transmission is confidential, and the user's identity must be verified for commercial transactions.

In some embodiments, the portable device uses an encryption process to ensure the privacy and security of the user data. Data stored in the memory of the device and data sent to other devices can be encrypted. Additionally, the user can set the device profile to limit the amount and type of information shared with other devices. In some embodiments, the system allows the user to specify that all search results are re-sent to the portable device and not stored in the system or service provider network.

In some embodiments, the scanner is paired with a host machine such as a computer, PDA, or cell phone. The system can lock the portable data capture device to work only with a particular host machine by programming the host machine's identifier (eg, serial number, etc.) to a predetermined location in the portable device's memory. Before communicating with another device, the portable device checks a certain memory area to see which machine is its assigned host. If the scanner is to be used with another device, the system (or the scanner itself) will require the user to verify / authenticate his identity before the new communication pair can work.

Use biometrics

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device and its associated system use biometrics for security and privacy. For example, a user can verify his or her identity by scanning a fingerprint on the portable device. As another example, in some embodiments, the device may use biometric information for data encryption for privacy. For example, fingerprint scans are used for elliptic curve encryption. In some embodiments, the portable device uses the same light path to scan text and biometrics.

Online / offline behavior

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device exhibits different behavior depending on whether the device is online or offline. Offline if the device is not communicating with other devices, such as a host computer, communication network, or data capture service provider network. A data capture service provider network, referred to as a scanner service provider network, is a service provider that supports applications of portable document data gap device, such as a life library archive provider.

In some embodiments, the portable device can operate even when offline. The user can still scan data from the rendered document, annotate voice, retrieve the document, and initiate a p-commerce transaction. Some of these features (transactions, annotations, and searches) will not complete until network connectivity is restored.

One form of offline behavior occurs when a document is not currently available in electronic form. Thus, searches based on data captured from the document will be resent with no match. If this happens, the system can save the search query and periodically resubmit it until the document is available at some point in the future. The system will also inform the user that the electronic counterpart is not currently available.

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device maintains the captured original data (image or voice) in memory for subsequent retrieval. This capability allows the system to restore data "as captured" for further processing. For example, when a user scans text with a handheld scanner, the scanned image is stored in memory and an OCR process is performed on the scanned image. If the image is not recognized by the OCR process, the original image data can be delivered to the host computer or service provider for further processing. In some embodiments, the scanned image data is held in memory until overwritten with new data. For example, the device may store the original image and the processed image (eg, OCR text) until the memory is full. In some embodiments, the device only saves the processed image and allows to overwrite the original image using more memory space than the processed image.

The portable device can access the locally cached data when in the offline mode. Further, in some embodiments, the portable data capture device detects when a connection to the host computer and / or network is possible and automatically changes its behavior accordingly. For example, a portable device with online / offline sensing can begin caching captured data automatically when disconnected.

Local caching

By locally caching information that a user may need, the system can reduce latency and conserve network bandwidth. Locally cached search indexes, keyword libraries, markup information, and font libraries improve user experience or network operation. Local caching of the font library enables template-based OCR even when the portable device is in offline mode.

In some embodiments, the document data capture device will locally cache the results of recent scans to reduce network traffic. This is because nearly 50% of network traffic will repeat hits on the same material, a recently published patent.

The user's life library can be cached in a host computer associated with the portable device. Tokens representing documents in the user's life library may be cached locally within the portable device. The user's local library's local cache allows the user to access his life library even in offline mode.

In some embodiments, the system caches an indication of the amount of text required for the scan to sufficiently identify the paper document on the portable device and locate the electronic counterpart. This local cache contains a list of conventional and general expressions with less disambiguation than normal text has. If the captured data contains a generic representation or a banal representation, the minimum disambiguation threshold is increased and additional text is required to fully identify the document. Thus, generic phrases increase the amount of text that must be scanned to identify the document. By locally caching this generic phrase, the portable device improves the ability to instruct the user that enough text should be captured to identify the document.

By locally caching a list of documents (eg, newspapers, magazines, etc.) known to be indexed by the system, the scanner can indicate that the context is known even in offline mode.

In some embodiments, when portable devices encounter fonts that are not locally cached, they download appropriate font libraries from their host computer or service provider.

Once a document is identified, markup documents associated with the document can be downloaded to the scanner. The local cache of markup documents enables local determination of the scanner's behavior on the document.

In some embodiments, the system pre-caches the index or other data for the document to be encountered. For example, in some embodiments, the system allows indexing and markup documents for local news to be downloaded to the user's handheld scanner every morning in anticipation of the user's scanning data from the newspaper.

Font template

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device locally caches font libraries and font templates. The font template may be downloaded to the device after the font is recognized. There is no need to wait until the portable device has captured one example of every character of the alphabet. After the system recognizes the fonts of some captured characters, the font library can be downloaded into a data capture device with local cache capabilities. The system can reduce OCR latency by locally caching font templates in the portable data capture device.

index

In some embodiments, the system caches the search index on the portable data capture device. In some embodiments, the system may pre-cache an index that the user may need. For example, the system may pre-index the portable device every day with the latest index for the local newspaper.

Keyword Library

The keyword library may be cached locally in a suitable example of a portable data capture device. Locally caching keywords allows the portable device to locally determine its behavior in response to keyword capture. Local determination of behavior is particularly useful when the portable device is not connected to the host machine or service provider's network.

Markup Information

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device downloads markup data for the document. This capability allows the portable device to locally determine at least a portion of its behavior in response to data captured from the document.

Keyword processing

In some embodiments, portable scanners recognize keywords in captured data and support keyword applications. The action taken in response to the keyword is predetermined by the markup document associated with the system and the rendered document in which the keyword is captured. In general, global keyword definitions are made at the system level, and local keyword definitions are made in markup documents. Unless otherwise specified in the markup document, local definitions take precedence over the entire definition.

The keyword may be a special symbol recognized by the scanner (such as an apple icon used as a trademark symbol on Apple Computer ™) or regular text. For example, a document such as a catalog may include a menu of command symbols that are very important to a portable device. To run the control program associated with the keyword, the user will scan one of the special symbols. In response, the processor of the device will access and execute the control program associated with the keyword. In the catalog example, one of the special symbols may initiate a purchase program that can be used to order products from the catalog via a scanner. The user scans information about the products to be ordered, and the handheld scanner will pass these products and other information (such as billing and shipping information) needed to complete the sale to the catalog vendor via the connection between the Internet and the communication interface. .

Search behavior

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device supports a search application. Input to the search query is captured from the rendered document, in particular by light scanning from the paper document.

In some embodiments, the system attaches a tag to the search query issued from the portable data capture device to indicate that the search condition originated from the paper document.

Document ID / location via data capture

The system can use the data captured from the rendered document to identify the rendered document and locate the electronic copy of the rendered document. The system identifies and locates documents by searching the index of the document's corpus. The system executes a search by sending a search query to a search engine or search application software.

Search query

The search query can be configured within a portable data capture device or network. In some embodiments, the search query message will include a portable device identifier.

Search query with context

The context of the search can increase the accuracy of the search results. In some embodiments, the handheld document data capture device provides a search query that includes contextual information. The context can be derived from the user's history, from the aggregate historical behavior of the user population, from the attributes of the document, or from the search environment.

time

The time when the search term is captured from the document is a useful context for disambiguation. For example, if the search engine knows the date when the search query was captured from the document, the search engine can ignore this document because any document published after the capture date cannot be the source of the captured data. In some embodiments, the search query includes a time stamp indicating when the search string was captured from the rendered document.

location

The location where the search condition is captured from the document is a useful context for clarity. For example, if a search engine knows the geographic location where the search query was captured from a document, the search engine may ignore this document because any document that is not distributed or published at that location may not be the source of the captured data. Can be. In some embodiments, the search query includes a location stamp indicating at which geographical location the search string was captured from the rendered document.

User history (from subscriber account)

The user's history is a useful context for identifying and locating documents. For example, if a user has a pattern of scanning text every morning in the Seattle Times newspaper and in the evening Economist magazine, the search query provided in the morning is more likely to come from the Seattle Times than the Economist. In some embodiments, the system will rank search results based on user history.

Aggregate user population metadata

The overall behavior for all use of the portable document data capture device also provides a context useful for clarification. Users are more likely to scan similar information from similar documents than otherwise, for example, the user population has recently provided a number of search queries captured from the latest Harry Potter novels and from Sean Hannity's latest books. Is the case when nothing is provided. Thus, if the search query provides some matched results, the source document is more likely to be the latest Harry Potter novel, not Sean Haniti's book. Thus, in some embodiments, the system ranks search query results based on overall user population behavior.

Organization of Search Queries

In some embodiments, the portable device captures continuous text from the paper document and constructs a search query based on the text. The search query is then provided to a search engine or other search software. To identify the paper document and find the electronic copy of the paper document, the search engine performs a search of its data index. In some embodiments, although more information has been captured from the paper document, the portable capture device saves communication bandwidth by providing enough information to identify the electronic copy. Since wireless bandwidth is limited, it is advantageous to transmit only necessary information in a wireless system. In some embodiments, the system enables a user to modify or enhance a search query by entering more text from the device's keypad.

Partial word disambiguation

In some embodiments handheld devices and systems support partial word disambiguation. When text is captured from the rendered document, it is difficult for the user to start and end capture on the word area. Words at the beginning and end of the captured string are usually truncated. Traditionally, search indexes consist of whole words, so partial words have little or no value in traditional search applications. However, such truncated or "partial" words can still have great clarity value. In some embodiments, the search engine uses partial words to select among a plurality of search results. For example, the search engine uses the entire word to search the search index and partial words at the end of the search string to select among the results. Thus, the search query of such an engine preferably contains partial word information.

Multi-line scan

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device can capture multiple text lines during one operation. A mobile phone using a built-in camera to take a portion of a page, a pen-type scanner with an optical head that captures two lines of text, and the like are examples of optical scanners that can capture more than one line of text. 15 shows a portable scanner 1510 that captures text from two lines of document 1520. Box 1500 represents the captured text. When more than one line of text is captured, each line can be sent to a search query in the format "line1 text" AND "line2 text". Alternatively, if an approximate column width is known, the search query can be constructed as "line1 text" WITHIN X WORDS "line2 text", where X is generally less than the approximate column width. In the example shown in Figure 15, the disambiguation search query is "study of law committed to" AND "and public service the." It may be configured as.

Stamp (Context, Scanner ID, User ID)

In some embodiments, the system uses a time stamp and a location stamp to identify the document. For example, an Associated Press article may appear in many newspapers, but the exact newspaper can be determined by location stamps. If the location stamp indicates that the scan was performed in Seattle, the Seattle newspaper is most likely the source of the scanned Associated Press article. Similarly, time stamps can be used to limit the range of candidate documents to those published prior to the time stamp. In some embodiments, the handheld device may construct a search query that includes a time and / or location stamp.

Word Length / Convolution Inquiries

In some embodiments, the system indexes and retrieves documents by word length. In the simplest case, three word lengths are used: long, short and obscure. The continuous pattern of long and short words forms a unique identifier for each document of sufficient length. Thus, the location of a document can be found by providing a search query based on word length rather than a traditional search query based on text. An example of a word length search query is as follows: 11001110? 010 ?? 10110, where 1 is a short word, 0 is a long word and? Is ambiguity. Any obscure object is always treated as a wildcard by the search engine. Word length search is particularly useful for imaging devices that are unable to distinguish individual characters in the captured image. For example, a low resolution mobile phone camera is used to take a picture of a rendered document, but the camera is not capable of image resolution down to the character level. However, a document can be identified by searching for a matching sequential pattern of long and short words. Similarly, as discussed elsewhere in this document, documents can be indexed and retrieved by convolution-based queries that indicate the frequency of repetition of characters.

Text features

Search queries derived from the scanned text may include information about the text, such as front type, size, and color. These text features can be used to clarify the document in which the text is captured. However, traditional search queries waste this information.

Document identifier

If the user searches within a known document, the search query may include a document identifier. The search engine may use a document identifier to limit the search results to the intended document. Traditional search queries do not include document identifiers.

Parallel search

To enrich the user experience, searches can occur in parallel on local devices and networks. When one search returns one result, the other can end.

Network behavior

In some embodiments, the message between the portable document data capture device scanner and the scanning service provider network includes a unique transaction code. The transaction code identifies the system to each transaction. In some embodiments, the transaction code is generated from a scanner ID, scanned information, document information, and type / location information of the hash.

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device has a unique identifier such as an electronic serial number (ESN) or network address so that the scanning service provider can identify the device. In some embodiments, the portable device includes a subscriber identity module (SIM) having encrypted billing and account information. In some embodiments, the removable identification module enables other users to borrow the data capture device and inserts it into the account, thereby temporarily associating it with their account.

The subscriber of each scanning service provider has a subscriber account stored in a database in the service provider's network. Subscriber account data records include billing / subscription information, subscriber name and address, electronic documents accessible by the subscriber, information about the subscription of paper documents, user history information, identifiers of the portable data capture device of the subscriber (ESN, etc.) , Security / password keys, and the location of the user's life library and / or personal web pages (blogs). For example, a user can capture data from a document with a portable device and enter a "blog this document" command through the UI. The system clarifies the document and publishes a link to the document on the user's blog page pre-specified in the user's account.

In some embodiments, the network performs remote activities and programming such as live broadcast activity (OAA) and programming (OAP) of the subscriber's portable document data capture device. When you turn on the data capture device, it will register with the service provider's network. Once registered, the service provider can download activation data into the device. The activation data may include a network address or other unique identifier that the service provider may use to route a message to the device. After the device is activated, the service provider can use remote programming to update the device with any updates (eg, locally cached markup data).

When the device is registered with the service provider's system, the service provider may prove that the device belongs to the subscriber by checking the service identifier against the subscriber account.

In some embodiments, the system can move indexes or other data to network elements near the portable device (physically or in terms of connection speed) to reduce latency and to communicate with network resources. Moving frequently accessed data to a portable device reduces the number of network entities, which must treat the information in a unique way as a portable device.

Network Enhanced Unambiguity

In some embodiments, network and portable document data capture devices repeat the non-ambiguous process. For example, a user can submit a search query made up of data captured from a paper document. The service provider may submit a search query to the search engine but cannot clarify the document. In response, the network allows the user to quickly capture additional information from the submitted document. The user submits additional information, and the service provider clarifies the submitted documents using previously submitted information and new information that is defective. Service providers and users repeat this process as necessary to clarify the document. Service providers typically retain previously submitted information and accumulate newly submitted information to clarify the document.

Subscriber account / record

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device includes a memory for storing information related to billing, subscriptions, and / or device identifiers. Such memory may be removable from a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or a smart card, or may not be removable, such as Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM). In some embodiments, the SIM memory is associated with the user's mobile phone service account. If an electronic copy of the document is located based on the captured data, the subscription information can be used to verify that the user should access the electronic copy. For example, newspapers must pay an additional fee to access the online version. The user account with the service provider may include subscription information for a paper document, such as a newspaper, which indicates whether the user has subscribed to an online version of the paper document.

In some embodiments, the system may make purchases with a handheld scanner using billing information in the user's subscriber account. The memory contains the user's encrypted credit card or other financial information. For example, when a user scans text from a document and indicates that he or she intends to access and purchase an electronic copy of the document (via the user interface or gesture control described above), the billing information may be paid to the copyright holder or content provider. Can be used to provide

In some embodiments, the portable device includes a device identifier such as a serial number of memory. Such device identifiers uniquely identify portable devices and typically store in a PROM so they cannot be deleted. Additional security for transactions can be obtained by associating a portable device with only one user, such as associating a user's account or subscription with the serial number of the device in the network database. Alternatively, the system locks the scanner to the smart card by storing the device identifier on the smart card (or storing the smart card identifier on the portable scanner). The processor of the device identifies that the correct smart card has been inserted before the portable scanner 200 is allowed to operate. Smart cards with internal processors can also identify that they have been inserted into a portable device, which are locked before any information on the smart card is allowed to access.

Remark

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device includes an annotation function. Annotation software may allow a device to attach voice or text annotations to a location, mark or text in a document. A comment can be associated with an absolute position or text string within a document. If the comment is associated with a text string, these systems can notify the subscriber if they edit or delete the annotated text. Before proceeding with editing or deleting, the system is asked if the user wants to proceed further.

text

Text annotations can be entered through the keypad of a portable device or by scanning text from a rendered document by conversion of voice data to text.

voice

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device includes a microphone to capture voice. The capture rate can be annotated to the document as an audio file at a location specified by the user, as described in more detail in the Scavenator section below.

OCR

In some embodiments, the portable document data capture device has onboard OCR capabilities. In some embodiments, the system may be hosted by the host computer or service provider. OCR can be accomplished by many suitable methods including template matching, convolution, and word length OCR.

Convert Trademark Symbols to Code

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device converts the trademark symbol into code or simple text. The portable device has a database of recognizable trademark symbols. When scanning and recognizing a trademark, the portable device can replace the code for the trademark image. The portable device then sends the code to the service provider network. The service provider takes some action related to the trademark code. For example, a user may scan an image of the Mitsubishi ^™ “three diamond” trademark. The handheld scanner compares the image with a library of onboard trademark symbols and identifies the three diamond symbol as a Mitsubishi trademark. The library has a unique code associated with each trademark that uniquely identifies the trademark as a system service provider. Rather than sending the entire image file to the service provider, the portable scanner replaces the code and sends this code. Replacing the code for the image reduces the size of the message to the network, which is an important advantage of wireless communication. In some embodiments, the system sends alphanumeric codes to some communication channels (such as cellular SMS channels) that do not allow image files. Of course, trademark images can also be converted to ASCII text. For example, the Mitsubishi ^™ three diamond logo can be converted to the text string “Mitsubishi trademark”.

Word length

In some embodiments, the optional scanning subsystem classifies the word length as a reasonable approach, although the word length cannot determine what individual letters are. Fortunately, word length patterns can also be used to identify documents. By categorizing words in the image of a document, a handheld scanner can construct code that can be used to identify a document. In the simplest case, words are classified into three categories: long, short and unknown. Short words have fewer than a certain number of characters and long words have more than a certain number of characters. In other words, short words <X <long words, where X is a predetermined number of characters that distinguish a short word from a long word. Searching for a specific index, indicated by the word length, will identify the rendered document. After the electronic counterpart is located, the electronic count part finds a matching adjacent string of long / short / unknown words in the electronic counterpart and executes OCR on the scanned string by converting the word length pattern into individual letters of the word. Can be used.

Template matching

Template matching OCR compares the captured image with the stored text image. If a match is found, the character is identified. Template matching OCR is sensitive to changes in front style, size, italics, and so on. Importantly, if the captured characters look different from the stored template, then you should refer to the template matching system. Template matching is very useful for recognizing images of trademarks and graphical icons.

Convolution

16 illustrates one embodiment of a convolution for determining a character offset. Alternatively, this embodiment can be planned by sliding an image of text across itself. Once the conversion pattern for the string of text is determined, OCR can be performed by statistical analysis or by identifying the source document through the coarse color of the conversion-enhanced image. This embodiment begins 1610 after the sensor image has the captured image. In such a scanner, the processor can create a queue of pixels and compare them with the original image. This cue can be a vertical slice of a copy of this original image. Another approach uses address pointers to continuously compare tracks of vertical slices, and temporarily make copies of these slices to the processor. The next step 1620 compares one length. The length is the horizontal width of the vertical slice. This can be one pixel or multiple pixels. This can be determined heuristically based on margins. This slice can be an overall image. This slice is compared with the slice from the original image. This is done by successively comparing these slices to slices from the original image. In some embodiments, this comparison slice is continuously compared with the corresponding slice of the next step. One step may be the same distance as the horizontal width. One step may be one pixel or multiple pixels. In a next step 1630 of this process, such a processor is written to a memory where this image matches itself. This data includes that the vertical slice matches another vertical slice of this original image. The matching section may or may not be a letter (ie, it may be only two letters appearing in sequence). The next step 1640 determines whether this comparison is complete. Comparisons do not necessarily compare one slice, but rather a larger process. One way to determine if the conversion process is complete is to ensure that there are no more slices to compare.

17 illustrates one way to conceptualize the conversion process. This shows a stepwise analysis using a single slice to find the character offset. An exemplary step is a number, such as 1, shown at 1700. Line 1710 is used to separate the steps. Images of the word determinative are compared. Left is slice 1720 and right is copy 1730 in memory. If an overlap is found, it is indicated by triangle 1740.

18 shows another example. Here, slice copy 1820 is shown over copy 1830 in memory to further clarify how a match was found (1840).

19 is a flow diagram showing steps typically executed by a system in which a conversion process is performed on an image. Sometimes it is difficult to determine which part of an image is a letter. One approach is to subdivide this image into sections with separate numbers of characters. In some embodiments, this process may be iteratively completed as a match, or may start after all matches have been found. In step 1910 this image is one segment, that is an image of a separate number of characters (such an image may occur in a section surrounded by a margin). At step 1920, if there are more matching subsections in the process, the system continues to step 1930 and the system ends at step 1970. At step 1930, these sections are recorded. One-dimensional position measurements can be sent to memory. One way to associate these segments with matching counterparts is to use an identifier. Another approach is to store them in memory to provide information such as how their relative positions match (ie, each matching pair is stored consecutively, and odd matches have one repeated region so that even numbers have). At step 1940, the system determines if any of these matching segments overlap with any segment. This overlap occurs where one segment entirely contains another segment, or in only one section of each overlap. At step 1950, the system is subdivided into these segments. This segmentation step occurs where the first segment has multiple characters and where the second segment has a smaller number of these characters. For example, the first match segment contains "ing" and the second segment contains "in." This process can subdivide them into segments that include "in" (ie, matched) and "g" (rest). If all segments begin with a separated number of characters, removing the separated number of characters will also leave a separate number of characters. In step 1960, the system stores each of these segments as the largest segment that either fully overlaps or does not fully overlap. This process is similar to when the location is stored in 1930. In some embodiments, the same system of interrelated matching segments is used. After this process, the original image will have a number of matching segments identified. The system treats the space between these segments (or between these segments and at least one edge of this image) as new segments that do not match any other segment. In some embodiments, the system further refines segments using character analysis techniques such as bubble analysis or binding analysis. These segments can be used to determine the text on which they are based. In some embodiments, the system represents these segments as offsets and uses these offsets to find out what text made these offsets. In some embodiments, the storage containing these information is filled with data that can take into account segments containing multiple characters.

Web server on the device

Computer-driven web browser software, such as Microsoft ^™ Internet Explorer, can access internal web pages included in some embodiments of a portable data capture device. Thus, the computer can access the internal webpage of the portable device and the portable device can be connected to the computer by a communication channel such as a USB cable.

Representative Example

The following describes a representative embodiment of a portable document data capture device. These embodiments are not meant to describe all possible embodiments but are meant to be as schematic as possible.

Mobile phone

Mobile phone embodiments of a portable document data capture device include the functionality of a phone and a scanner. The mobile phone can accept image data with a dedicated scanning subsystem or with an integrated camera. Voice annotations can be accepted as the microphone of a mobile phone. The user can enter the search query text on the phone's keypad through the phone's scanner or through the microphone.

In some embodiments, when a paper document is imaged with the phone's camera and appears on the phone's display, the mobile phone may have software to present a markup layer pasted onto the paper document image. When a paper document is viewed through the phone's camera, the image is enhanced in quality by markup document data.

How to identify text on a page to be scanned by a scanner that is not in physical contact with the page

One of the difficulties of using a mobile phone camera as a scanning device is to indicate the user whose text will be scanned. In some embodiments, the mobile phone projects a beam on the surface to be scanned that will brighten the proximity scan area. In some embodiments, the mobile phone displays the area to be scanned on the display of the phone. The display is enhanced in several ways to show the user which subset of the image is scanned or OCR. For example, the display can draw a box around the area where text is to be captured. Alternatively, the phone may indicate the boundaries of the scan in the display overlapping the image of the document from the camera or from the document source, i.e. as a red line or shaded background or the like on the display screen.

How to take an action based on the scanned text and let the user make a selection

In some embodiments, the system is

-Capture an image of a portion of a paper document,

-select an ocr image, find the offset, compress it,

-Send image or text data to a server over a cellular network,

-Locate the document and (if any) associated markup,

-Transmit motion / presentation data to the wireless handset,

-Present the data to the user,

-Optionally receive instructions from the user,

-By storing or sending instructions from the user,

Clarify paper documents in the context of mobile phones.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the data for the menu (ie, 'markup data') and the index of the document are downloaded and left on the mobile phone The menu / markup information is shown to the user on the display of the mobile phone. Optionally, the menu can be presented for the user to hear.

In some embodiments, the mobile phone data capture device uses the phone's audio function to clarify the document. Users can use a wireless handset or landline phone to dial a server that accepts voice, scan, dtmf tones, etc., and the advantages of a paper-to-digital document system using existing telephony audio channels. Get

For example, a user reads a representative portion of a document, such as a document identifier, a title, and the like. The system provides feedback on ambiguity—selective to the screen—in some embodiments, and the user receives whether to recognize whether a match of the digital document has been found. The user may take optional actions to resolve ambiguity, such as scanning for additional items of interest. The user can read aloud and present unambiguous data to the system to set the context. For example, a user may set a context by saying "NY Times, yesterday" followed by "... said we need this war to achieve peace ..." unambiguous data. The system then searches for yesterday's edition of The New York Times for text that matches unambiguous data.

Scanning method by using mobile phone camera system

Simple scanning may not require the full resolution of the phone's camera in all embodiments. Using only selected portions of the camera sensor area has the advantage of higher data rates and lower power consumption.

In some embodiments, the fiber optic image conduit is part of the scanning subsystem. The scanning subsystem can co-exist with existing camera image sensors. In some embodiments, some of the camera image sensors are reserved for exclusive use of the scanning subsystem.

For action, electronic transaction, or search Context  How to set up

The account of the mobile phone subscriber with the cellular service provider can be used to calculate / bill information about the p-commerce purchase transaction.

Another aspect of mobile phone functionality can be used to establish a context. For example, phone call activities and history can be used to achieve context, prioritize input, and handle search queries. In addition, the use of the phone network for Web / WAP / email / IM activities and their history; Other uses of the phone network, such as the phone's geographic location and history, can be used to establish the context.

The phone's text messaging dictionary can be used to enhance the OCR process. T9 predictive text software for text messaging on many mobile phones can also be used to enhance OCR and non-ambiguity processes. For example, T9 predictive text software can be used to correct OCR errors. Text entry and SMS messaging history can be used as a vocabulary for OCR.

In some embodiments, the mobile phone recognizes the icon as a command to dial the number printed after the icon. In some embodiments, the mobile phone will recognize the phone number and take a predetermined action when scanning the phone number. Part of the possible predetermined action is to make a phone call and store this phone number in the phone address book. In some embodiments, the phone will use the phone's geographic location as the context to help recognize the phone number. For example, the phone number under the North American system consists of ten digits. The phone can use their location context when the phone scans the number to determine if the number is the phone number. When the pawn is in North America, eleven digit numbers are automatically stored as the pawn number. When the phone is in Europe, the same eleven digit numbers may be automatically stored as the phone number.

Mobile phone commerce initiated by or using a scan of a rendered document

The mobile phone can initiate commerce by capturing information from the rendered document. For example, a user may capture an image of a plurality of lines of text from a document with his mobile phone camera; The phone recognizes the keywords in the captured data; The keyword triggers a software application within the phone that allows the phone to deliver a purchase order for the product associated with that keyword. The user may indicate whether he wants to complete the commerce (eg with a phone keypad). If he wants to complete the commerce, the purchase price is charged to the user's mobile phone account.

The mobile phone (or any wireless communication device requiring subscription with a service provider) can be used to authenticate and complete commerce based on the rendered document. For example, a subscriber can fill out and submit a webpage purchase form. In response, the web seller sends the code back to the subscriber's computer, which displays it on the monitor. The subscriber then photographs the computer monitor as his mobile phone and sends this image to the seller over the cellular network. When the seller receives the mobile phone message, the seller may check that the mobile phone account matches the information submitted on the webpage to authenticate the user and complete the commerce.

In some embodiments, the subscriber may call a dialup number that connects the subscriber to a server where p-commerce can be completed by DTMF or voice input.

mobile Pawn and  How to use the scanner features in combination

In some embodiments, the mobile phone is an intermediate platform (host device) for scanning. For example, this situation can occur when a BlueTooth ™ scanner is connected to a mobile phone. When the mobile phone is functioning as an intermediate platform, the phone can store document indexes, markup documents, and user / scanner specific user account data being used with the phone.

In some embodiments, the cellular phone system opens the data channel with any voice call. The caller takes a picture of the document (or captures enough data to identify the document, for example, scans a string of text from the document) with his cell phone, and the captured data is punctured into the voice channel. The software in the receiving phone then recovers this string and uses it to locate an electronic copy of the document that the string was scanned by the caller.

In some embodiments, when the mobile phone captures the phone number and name, it is preprogrammed to store both in the phone's address book. When only one phone number has been captured, the phone is preprogrammed to automatically dial this number.

SMS, MMS

The search query can be efficiently sent to the service provider or network by the use of the Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging system of the cellular network for the mobile phone. The image and audio files may be sent by the multimedia messaging service (MMS) of the cellular network for the mobile phone to send and receive multimedia messages.

An aspect of interest of the mobile phone embodiment is that it is observed that only a small fragment of data is needed to identify the location, especially if the fragment is further qualified by the context. This short fragment approach then leads to the incredible ability to send document scan data over a limited bandwidth channel that could not previously transmit a document image.

Computer mouse

One embodiment of a portable data capture device is an optical mouse with scanner capabilities. In some embodiments, the optical mouse uses the same optical path for scanning and motion sensing. In some embodiments, the optical mouse has a viewfinder for observing the text being scanned.

This viewfinder lets the user know where the scanner is being targeted. Techniques that can be used to implement this viewfinder include: a clear plastic window showing a document under the mouse; A series of mirrors similar to a periscope; A display showing the real time output of the scanner; Or fiber optic image conduits.

20 shows a scanner / mouse 2100 with a viewing window 2104 revealing the surface under the mouse. This scanner / mouse 2100 has a housing 2102 in which a viewing window 2104 is present. This viewing window may have a target 2106 to indicate which text the scanner / mouse 2100 is capturing. This viewing window can be used with the mirror arrangement shown in FIG. 24.

FIG. 21 shows a scanner / mouse 2100 with a display (LCD, LED, etc.) mounted on top of housing 2104 so that a user can see what is being scanned. Display 2102 may show the output of the light scanning subsystem in real time. In some embodiments, the processor (processor of the host computer or onboard processor) may manipulate the output before the output of the optical mechanism is sent to the display 2102. See also FIG. 25.

FIG. 22 shows a block diagram of a mouse with separate position-sensing unit 2210 and scanning mechanism 2220, such as a mouse with a traditional mechanical x / y mechanism and a light scanner. Control logic 2240 is operatively connected with position-sensing mechanism 2210, scanning mechanism 2220, display 2230, I / O subsystem 2250, and memory 2260. The optional display 2230 can show the scanned data to the user. The memory 2260 may store scanned data and instructions. I / O subsystem 2250 communicates with a host computer by wireless or wired communication means such as a Bluetooth transceiver or a USB port. In some embodiments, I / O subsystem 2250 also includes a user input device such as a switch, keypad or butt.

FIG. 23 shows a block diagram of a mouse with an optical sensor assembly 2310 that can be used to detect x / y motion and scan data from a rendered document. The control logic 2320 is operatively connected to the optical assembly 2310, the I / O subsystem 2330, the display 2350, and the memory 2340. The control logic / processor 2320 can determine which function (scanning or motion sensing) is required. Alternatively, I / O subsystem 2330 may include a user selectable switch to switch between x / y motion and scanning functions. The memory 2340 may store data and instructions. The display 2350 can show the user scanned data and / or device status (eg, whether the device is currently in scanner mode or mouse mode, etc.).

FIG. 24 shows a side view of mouse / scanner 2400 using a series of mirrors 2410 to reflect an image up to the viewfinder of what is under the scanner head. The light source 2420 illuminates a portion of the rendered document 2430 that is being scanned by the user. At least a portion of the light from light source 2420 reflects off document 2430 and travels along light path 2440 to a viewfinder window 2450 that the user can see. In this alternative embodiment, the viewfinder 2450 may be placed on one side of the scanner head / light source 2420 (see FIG. 26).

FIG. 25 shows an example of a mouse / scanner 2500 using an image conduit 2510 operatively connected to a photosensitive semiconductor chip 2520 (CMOS, CCD, etc.).

The output of CCD 2520 may be directly applied to display 2530 and processor 2540 (alternatively, the output may be processed before being routed to display 2530). The processor 2540 is operatively connected to the CCD 2520, the display 2530, the memory 2550, and the I / O subsystem 2560.

FIG. 26 shows a plan view of a mouse / scanner 2600 with a view finder, which is a window 2610 on one side of the scanning mechanism 2620 that allows a user to see text passing under the scanning head in nature. . The processor 2630 is operatively connected with the scanning mechanism 2620, the memory 2640, the I / O subsystem 2650, and the power supply 2660. The power supply 2660 is usually included in a scanner that communicates wirelessly but may optionally be included in a wired mouse.

Scan head with USB port Accessories

Scanning accessories with adapter ports are another example of a portable data capture device. The scanning accessory can be plugged into a suitable connector on another device, such as a mobile phone or PDA, to upgrade the scanning capability to that device. In some embodiments, the accessory only has an optical capture subsystem and an adapter (which delivers power through this adapter). In some embodiments, the accessory includes control logic, memory, and a power supply.

Scanotator

In some embodiments, the system targets the audio annotation to the selected position within the electronic counterpart of the rendered document (“system”). To target the dictated annotation to a selected point in the paper document, the user uses a handheld optical scanner to scan a portion of the text at the selected point. The user then dictates the annotation captured by the microphone in the optical scanner and stored in association with the scanned portion of the text.

The scanner may be connected to or communicate with a computer system or similar device through various types of wired or wireless connections. Once connected, the stored association plays a annotation, for example displaying a point selected with the electronic version of the document, displays a textual version of the annotation acquired through voice recognition with respect to the point selected with the electronic version of the document, According to this annotation, the system automatically re-elects the electronic version of the document at the selected point, embeds the annotation as an audio file within the electronic document at the selected point, and points to an associated audio file containing the audio annotation (e.g. ) Can be used for insertion. In some embodiments, the scanned text can be used to identify and / or locate documents from a wider electronic document. Alternatively, other approaches can be used to identify the document.

In some embodiments, the scanner includes controls such as controls to navigate between annotations. When the scanner is connected to a computer system, the navigation control can navigate between the annotations in the document displayed on the computer system. When the scanner is not connected to a computer system, the navigation control can navigate between the annotations stored in the scanner, or review, recall, or delete such annotations in the scanner's memory.

By providing some or all of the functions described above, the system allows a user to conveniently and accurately annotate an electronic document using a rendered copy of the electronic document.

27 is a perspective view of a state of a sample handheld document data capture device. While reading a paper document, a user may be aware of typing or spelling errors, factual inaccuracies, or other issues in the document that require editing or other interaction of the electronic original. The user presses the SCAN button 2701 on the annotation device and scans a few words of the document to capture context using an optical sensor 2711. In some embodiments, the visual indicator 2721 is likely or sufficient to identify whether the scanned text was recognized and / or to identify the electronic document and / or a single location within such document that the scanned text corresponds to the rendered document. Indicates whether this is high. The user then presses the REC button 2702 to record the voice annotation using the built-in microphone. The user can review the annotation using the built-in speaker 2731 by pressing the button 2703 and overwrite the annotation by pressing the REC button 2702 again.

When the user finishes reprinting the printed document, the user (or assistant) can be annotated directly into the USB port on the computer (which can also recharge the internal battery of the tin device) via an extension cable, if the USB port is inconveniently located Plug the USB connector 2741 of the device. By simply plugging it in, a suitable software package for editing the document can launch the appropriate document, load it, place the edit cursor at the point of the first annotation, and even select the scanned word. Then, the user can press the PLAY button 103 to hear the recorded comment and make any necessary edits to the text in the normal way. The user can press the NEXT button 2705 to skip to the next comment and then press PLAY again.

REC button 2702 can be used to add additional annotations to the same location, for example, if the assistant has questions regarding the suitability of the original annotations or their edited version.

SCAN button 2701 can be used as a 'DONE' button to indicate that when connected to a PC, it is annotated and no longer needed. In some embodiments, the same button triggers scanning when the device is in contact with the paper and triggers audio recording when it is not. In some embodiments, the device may have a sensor or button (not shown for clarity) near the light sensor 2711 to detect when the light sensor 2711 is in contact with the paper.

In some embodiments, the annotation device has a clip at the back so that it can be clipped to the annotated document to function as a set of audio Post-It® notes.

28 shows a block diagram of one embodiment of an annotation device 2800. The device includes a light scanning head 2816 for capturing an image of text from a paper document and a microphone 2802 for capturing voice annotations associated with the text. Data captured from such an input device can be processed by the central control device 2810 and stored in memory 2814. One or more buttons 2812 are provided for the user to control this process, and some visual indicators 2804 shown here as LEDs provide feedback to the user. Of course, the visual indicator may be any suitable user interface such as, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD).

Optionally, the device includes a loudspeaker 2806 that allows the user to be re-voiced and to be given other audio feedback.

Interface 2808 is shown here as USB, which allows it to be transmitted to a PC or other processing device, but may be a firewall, Bluetooth ™, 802.11, infrared, Ethernet or other wired or wireless communication technology. Wired-based communication technologies such as USB can also provide power to the device for charging or for immediate computation of an internal power source such as a battery.

FIG. 29 shows device 2800 connected to a processing device, such as PC 2900, via a communication 2902, usually a USB port. The monitoring system 2904 is responsible for detecting when the device is connected, communicating with the device and coordinating the final operation. Normally this involves retrieving the captured image from the device to subsystem 2906 for analysis and conversion in symbol or text form, passing the final text to retrieval subsystem 2908 to locate a suitable document, And processing the details of the documents passed to the application 2910 that allows the user to view, edit or interact with them. In addition, the monitoring system 2904 can control the application, such that, for example, the monitoring system 2904 can scroll the document to the location of the previous scam. The captured audio annotation can be delivered to the audio system 2912 of the PC for playback to the user. The audio system 2912 may have digital-to-analog and / or analog-to-digital conversion capability to convert analog audio into digital form or vice versa.

It is possible for many components of this process to occur on device 2800 if device 2800 has more than a base level of sophistication. Recognition of any integrated text and interpretation of the image, shown at 2906 on the PC, may be completed or partially completed at the device 2800 prior to or during the connection to the device 2800 on the device 2800. For example, it is text or some other derived data that is passed to the PC 2900 as well as instead of the image itself. Similarly, the audio annotation can be played back to the user via the audio facility 2906 embedded in the device, and the user interface to the process can be operated in part or in full through a button on the device 2800.

Again, in FIG. 28, in any embodiment, the scanning head 2816 of the device may capture an image from a display device, such as a computer display, as well as from the pay.

Annotated text can be identified by capturing and recognizing speech fragments read aloud by the user in the device's microphone 2802 instead of scanning and interpreting the image of the word on the paper.

In an alternative embodiment, the microphone 2802 is used to capture both text and annotations so that the scanning head 28160 can be omitted, and the image-compression and OCR stage described above is replaced by an audio-processing and speech recognition stage. In this embodiment, the user reads text and annotations loudly into the microphone at the required location for the annotation In some embodiments, the user indicates which audio is marking the position and which is the annotation To manipulate the device's user interface (buttons, displays, keypads, microphones, etc. to present information to and receive input from the user). You can convert the appropriate audio into text and use this text to identify it. After is identified through the text string marking the annotation location, PC 2900 may enable the annotation to be inserted into the electronic document at the appropriate insertion point.

30 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of a component that is typically integrated into at least a portion of a computer system and other devices on which the system is run. Such computer system and device 300 may include one or more central processing units (“CPUs”) 3001 for executing computer programs; Computer memory 3002 for storing data and programs including data structures while they are in use; Permanent storage device 3003, such as a hard drive, for permanent storage of programs and data; A computer readable medium drive 3004 such as a CD-ROM drive for reading programs and data stored on the computer readable medium; A network connection 3005 for connecting the computer system to another computer system, such as the Internet, for exchanging data and / or programs comprising a data structure; And a desktop bus connector 3006, such as a USB connector or other suitable bus connector. Programs executed by the CPU may be associated with and associated with the system, as well as software for recognizing scanned images, such as optical character recognition (“OCR”) software, and / or software for recognizing spoken audio, such as speech recognition software. It may include the program described elsewhere. Although a computer system configured as described above is commonly used to support the operation of the system, those skilled in the art will understand that the system can be implemented using devices having various types and configurations, and various components.

31 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process used by the system to annotate an electronic document. In step 3101, the system scans a portion of the rendered document, such as a small, subsequent sequence of words. In step 3102, the system enters audio annotations regarding the scanned portion of the rendered document. In step 3103, if more annotations are present, the system continues at step 3101 to construct another annotation, otherwise the system proceeds to step 3104. In step 3104, the system uploads the portion of the document scanned in step 3101 and the audio annotation input in step 3102 to the computer system. In step 3105, the system identifies a digital document corresponding to the rendered document. In some embodiments, the system identifies the digital document corresponding to the rendered document by comparing text in the one or more document portions scanned from the rendered document into the content of the universe of the electronic document.

In step 3106, the system modifies the digital document identified in step 3105 according to the uploaded annotation. In some embodiments, step 3106 involves attaching each annotation as an audio click to a point in the digital document near the corresponding scanned portion. In some embodiments, step 3106 involves attaching a speech recognized textual version of the annotation to the digital document at such a point. In some embodiments, step 3106 involves automatically editing the scanned portion of the identified digital document based on the voice recognized content of the annotation. If speech recognition is used, it may be executed before or after the annotation is uploaded. After step 3106, this step ends.

Of course, step 3106 does not appear in all embodiments and may be different from the embodiments described above. For example, in some embodiments, uploading and storing the annotation for future use may be sufficient, and the annotation may be stored separately from the digital original. In particular, modifying this original is not possible, for example, because the comment does not have sufficient privileges or is a non-writable medium such as a CD.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the steps shown in FIG. 31 may be substituted in various ways. For example, the order of the steps may be rearranged, the substeps may be executed in parallel, the illustrated steps may be omitted, or other steps may be included.

32 is a table diagram illustrating a sample annotation table 3200 used by the system to display annotations entered by a user. In some embodiments, the system stores a version of the annotation table 3200 in the annotation device 2800 and / or computer system 2900. In some embodiments, the system uploads a version of the annotation table 3200 from the annotation device 2800 to the computer system 2900.

Annotation table 3200 includes a row for each generated annotation, such as rows 3201-3203. A row of the annotation table 3200 may include a document sequence number column 3211 that includes sequence number distinct annotations associated with different rendered documents; A scanned text string 3212 containing a recognized textual version of the scanned text for raw or processed image data or annotations captured during scanning; And a comment column 3213 that includes a captured or processed audio data or a speech-recognized textual version of the comment captured for the comment. For example, line 3201 indicates that in the annotated first document, the user scanned the text “idealized husbanary practices” in this rendered document and attached the audio annotation “audio citation to Huff reference”.

Although FIG. 32 illustrates a table having content and organization designed so that content and organization are more recognizable by a human reader, those skilled in the art will appreciate, for example, that the actual data structure used by the system to store this information is, for example, Can be configured in different ways; May contain more or less information than shown; It will be appreciated that it may differ from the table shown, such as being compressed and / or encrypted. For example, in some embodiments, the system may include a time stamp and / or location stamp for each scan. The necessary time and location information may be obtained from onboard global global positioning system (GPS) capability, or from a wireless communication network in the case of a device 2800 having wireless communication capability.

The system can be used in one or more of various modes, including any of the sample modes described below. In one sample mode, the annotation device 2800 automatically downloads both the annotation and the scanned information into the identified document. Comments are made up of documents such as notes, multimedia (audio) note files, and so on. For example, a user scans any text from a paper document (having a corresponding electronic document on the user's computer), so that it indicates where the annotation belongs in the document, and which points should be included at this point. A voice comment will be made for the extra information. Later, the user plugs the annotation device into the USB port of the computer. In some embodiments, the user opens a document in a document editing application (such as Microsoft Word), launches a macro to download the annotation, and attaches it as a text or embedded audio file to the word document.

In another sample mode, the computer automatically identifies the document to which the annotation belongs, by accessing the search index and comparing the scanned text to the search index, and thus using the scanned text to identify the correct document without further user intervention. . This automatic downloading and incorporation into the document as a "comment" can be used for collaborative editing of the document by the workgroup. When used in this way, the computer saves the individual edits and comments of each group member in the document. Alternatively, the computer stores and processes them separately and combines them in a suitable form.

Example

The following are some examples of use of the handheld document data capture device. This example may disclose all possible embodiments but is intended to give an overview of some uses.

P- Commerce

In some embodiments, the handheld document data capture device has p-commerce capabilities and applications. For example, some embodiments may recognize icons and keywords related to p-commerce activity. These keywords and icons can launch p-commerce transactional software for purchasing goods services by capturing data from paper documents. In some embodiments, the device is placed in a purchase state or mode when it encounters a $ (purchase) mark. Because the purchase process is automated, some embodiments allow a subscriber to complete a purchase transaction in a single scan from a catalog or advertisement. In some embodiments, the device may store financial information in onboard memory for direct interaction with the credit card processor.

keyword

In some embodiments, the handheld document data capture device supports the use of markup documents and words in combination with the rendered document. Some embodiments recognize various supplemental markings (eg, underline, font, color of text, tokens, icons) in the text indicating that a particular scan should be specially processed. Upon encountering one of these supplemental markings, the device executes an application associated with the detected marking. Keywords supported by various embodiments include company names and trademarks. Some trademarks and icons are converted into codes or text within the phone and sent to the service provider via SMS or other text-based messaging. Local caching of the reward list in the phone is useful for local conversion of graphics to text. Alternatively, graphical trademarks and icons may be transmitted as images via multimedia messaging.

prepayment

In some embodiments, the portable data capture device has a prepaid subscription for the service from the scanning service provider. Prepaid accounts have two main advantages. The first is that prepaid accounts can enable anonymous use of the system to protect subscriber privacy. The second is that prepaid accounts can expand potential subscribers to people with bad or no credit history. By paying in advance, the subscriber can use the system service regardless of his credit history.

For example, a customer may purchase a data capture device that is portable at the store. The device can be used for a certain number of prepaid transactions. A typical transaction executed by a device is to access an electronic document. Thus, a customer may scan text from a local newspaper with a prepaid device and instantly and anonymously access supplemental electronics. The scanning service provider has an account file associated with the prepaid device to which each transaction is debited. When a customer has used all prepaid transactions, he can optionally purchase more prepaid transactions by returning to the store or making electronic payments (via a bank ATM machine, etc.). The service provider credits the newly purchased transaction into the prepaid account file of the portable device.

conclusion

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system described above may be employed or extended in various ways. Although the foregoing description refers to specific embodiments, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow and the elements described therein.

Claims (33)

As a portable data capture device, Control logic; Memory coupled with control logic for storing instructions and data executable by the control logic; A data capture element for capturing data from the paper document; Instructions stored in memory that, when executed by the control logic, cause the data capture element to capture text from a paper document; Portable data capture device, when executed by the control logic, instructions stored in memory to cause the portable data capture device to automatically submit at least a portion of the captured text to a search engine . A portable device having scanning capability, An image capture device for obtaining an image; A processor for processing an image captured by the image capture device; A memory for storing an image obtained by the image capture device; A communication interface for transmitting information to and receiving information from an external device; And And a user interface operable to instruct a user that sufficient information has been obtained to identify a source document of the acquired image. 3. The portable device of claim 2, further comprising image compression logic for compressing an image captured by the image capture device. The portable device of claim 2, further comprising an internal power source. 5. The portable device of claim 4, further comprising power management logic for monitoring the extended operational life of the internal power supply and the power consumption of the portable device. The portable device of claim 2 further comprising an illumination source. 3. The portable device of claim 2, further comprising a location module. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the location module comprises at least one location capability selected from the group of GPS, A-GPS, DGPS, triangulation, monitoring of local transceiver pilot signals, TDOA, EOTD and angle of arrival. Portable device. A portable device having a scanning capability, the portable device control method comprising: Scanning the control data; Processing the control data; Identifying an application corresponding to the control data; Accessing the application in response to the control data; And And executing the application. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the application causes the portable device to store data in a memory. 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the application causes the portable device to erase data from memory. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the application causes the text in the electronic document to be highlighted. As a portable scanner, A processor; A first memory operatively connected with the processor; And a second memory operatively connected with the process for storing at least one selected from the group of information, content subscription information, service subscription information, and a device identifier. 14. The portable scanner of claim 13, wherein the second memory is a subscriber identity module. The portable scanner of claim 13, wherein the second memory is a smart card. A portable device control application in a computer readable medium, A control identifier identifying a command associated with a short scanned image; And And a processor that operates on commands associated with the short scanned image. In a portable device having scanning capability, a method for notifying a user that sufficient data has been scanned from the document to identify the document, Scanning a symbol from the document; Estimating how many symbols have been scanned from the document; Comparing the estimate to a threshold number to identify a document; And Indicating that enough symbols have been scanned to identify the document. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the indicating step is a visual signal recognizable by a user of the portable scanning device. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the threshold number for identifying the document is in the range of 20 to 40 symbols. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the threshold number is less than 41 symbols. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said instructing is an auditory signal recognizable by a user of said portable scanning device. A method in a computing system for processing text capture operations, Determining that the user used the handheld text capture device to perform a text capture operation from the rendered document that yields a text sequence; And Acting on the text capture operation. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the rendered document includes at least one line of text and the text sequence calculated by the text capture operation is a suitable subset of the text contained within a single line of the rendered document. How to. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the rendered document includes text of at least one page, and wherein the text sequence calculated by the text capture operation is a suitable subset of text contained within a single page of the rendered document. How to. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the calculated text sequence consists of words, and wherein the text capture operation involves a specific user interaction with each of the words of the calculated text sequence. 27. The method of claim 25, wherein the user speaks each of the words of the calculated text sequence. 27. The method of claim 25, wherein the user directs a selection sensor to each of the words of the calculated text sequence. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the calculated text sequence consists of ordered words, and the text capture operation involves a capturing physics corresponding to each of the words of the calculated text sequence in the order of the calculated text sequence. The method characterized by the above. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the calculated text sequence consists of ordered words, and the text capture operation involves a capturing physics corresponding to each of the words of the calculated text sequence in reverse order of the calculated text sequence. The method characterized by the above. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the text capture operation involves manually moving a selection sensor across the rendered document. The method of claim 22, wherein the text capture operation involves capturing image data from a non-rectangular region of the rendered document. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the text sequence produced by the text capture operation includes less than ten words. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the text capture operation involves capturing an image of less than ten words.

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