Variable glyph system and method

1. A computer-implemented method for processing an image of handwritten text, the method comprising:

segmenting, by a computing device, the image of handwritten text into at least one disjoint component image corresponding to a plurality of individual glyphs connected by a plurality of ligatures;

skeletonizing, by said computing device, said disjoint component image into a grid graph comprising a plurality of nodes with at least three paths;

determining, by said computing device according to said grid graph, a connected path traversing said plurality of ligatures and comprising a subset of said plurality of nodes with at least three paths;

generating, by said computing device, a plurality of connected graphs corresponding to a plurality of edges in said disjoint component image;

segmenting, by said computing device, said disjoint component image into a plurality of non-overlapping segments according to said connected path and said plurality of connected graphs; and

determining, by said computing device, a set of one or more adjacent non-overlapping segments corresponding to each of said plurality of individual glyphs.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising classifying said plurality of nodes with at least three paths according to at least one of a node-type property and a node-location property.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising classifying said plurality of connected graphs according to an exterior/interior property.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein sectioning said disjoint component image into said plurality of non-overlapping segments comprises:

identifying a suitable dividing node within said connected path according to at least one suitability criterion; and

segmenting said disjoint component image into two of said plurality of non-overlapping segments at said suitable dividing node.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein identifying said suitable dividing node according to at least one suitability criterion comprises determining that a horizontal distance between said suitable dividing node and a previously-identified suitable dividing node meets or exceeds a minimum horizontal-segment-size threshold.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein identifying said suitable dividing node according to at least one suitability criterion comprises determining that a dividing line between said two of said plurality of non-overlapping segments extends between an upper coast and a lower coast of said disjoint component image.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a set of one or more adjacent non-overlapping segments corresponding to an individual glyph comprises minimizing a distance metric between a candidate image and a plurality of glyph exemplars, said candidate image comprising said one or more adjacent non-overlapping segments.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing at least one determined set of one or more adjacent non-overlapping segments as a member of an ensemble of representations of the corresponding individual glyph.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

for each of a plurality of geometric glyph properties:

calculating a measure of the current geometric glyph property for said member of said ensemble;

defining a statistical distribution function of the current geometric glyph property for said ensemble; and

obtaining a target value for the current geometric glyph property according to the current statistical distribution function; and

transforming a base representation of the corresponding individual glyph into a target representation of the corresponding individual glyph according to the target values obtained for each of said plurality of geometric glyph properties.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 1 .

11. An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the method of claim 1 .

12. A computer-implemented method for varying glyph geometry, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a computing device, an ensemble of representations of a glyph;

for each of a plurality of geometric glyph properties:

calculating, by said computing device, a measure of the current geometric glyph property for each member of said ensemble of representations of said glyph;

defining, by said computing device, a statistical distribution function of the current geometric glyph property for said ensemble of representations of said glyph; and

obtaining, by said computing device, a target value for the current geometric glyph property according to the current statistical distribution function;

obtaining, by said computing device, a base representation of said glyph; and

transforming, by said computing device, said base representation of said glyph into a target representation of said glyph according to the target values obtained for each of said plurality of geometric glyph properties.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said plurality of geometric glyph properties includes at least two of a glyph position-above-a-baseline property, a glyph size property, and a glyph orientation property.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein said plurality of geometric glyph properties includes a glyph size property, and wherein calculating a measure of said glyph size property comprises calculating a first and a second principal moment of inertia of a member of said ensemble of representations of said glyph.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said plurality of geometric glyph properties includes a glyph orientation property, and wherein calculating a measure of said glyph orientation property comprises calculating an angle between said first principal moment of inertia and a baseline.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein said plurality of geometric glyph properties includes a glyph position-above-a-baseline property, and wherein calculating a measure of said glyph position-above-a-baseline property comprises summing a plurality of values corresponding to a plurality of vertical coordinates, relative to a baseline, of a plurality of points that comprise a member of said ensemble of representations of said glyph.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining said base representation of said glyph comprises selecting one from said ensemble of representations of said glyph.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining said ensemble of representations of said glyph comprises:

segmenting an image of handwritten text into at least one disjoint component image corresponding to a plurality of individual glyphs connected by a plurality of ligatures;

sectioning said disjoint component image into a plurality of non-overlapping segments; and

determining a set of one or more adjacent non-overlapping segments corresponding to each of said plurality of individual glyphs.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein sectioning said disjoint component image into said plurality of non-overlapping segments comprises:

skeletonizing said disjoint component image into a grid graph comprising a plurality of nodes with at least three paths;

determining, according to said grid graph, a connected path traversing said plurality of ligatures and comprising a subset of said plurality of nodes with at least three paths; and

generating, by said computing device, a plurality of connected graphs corresponding to a plurality of edges in said disjoint component image.

20. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 12 .

21. An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the method of claim 12 .