On-device artificial intelligence systems and methods for document auto-rotation

1. A method, comprising:

converting, by an auto-rotation module on a user device, a document image to a monochrome image having black and white pixels;

segmenting, by the auto-rotation module, the monochrome image into bounding boxes, the segmenting including generating a bounding box defining a connected segment of black pixels in the monochrome image;

determining, by the auto-rotation module, textual snippets from the bounding boxes;

preparing, by the auto-rotation module, the textual snippets for input to a single-layer neural network;

processing the textual snippets by the auto-rotation module using the single-layer neural network, wherein the single-layer neural network is trained to recognize a correct orientation of each textual snippet and output a set of results for the each textual snippet, each result of the set of results indicating a probability of a degree of rotation needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet;

examining, by the auto-rotation module, results from the processing, the examining comprising comparing the probability with a threshold;

determining, by the auto-rotation module based on a majority of the results from the examining, a correct orientation of the document image, the majority of the results indicating a degree of rotation needed to achieve the correct orientation of the document image; and

automatically rotating, by the auto-rotation module, the document image by the degree of rotation to achieve the correct orientation of the document image.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the bounding box defines a set of coordinates in the monochrome image that contains the connected segment of black pixels.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining textual snippets from the bounding boxes comprises:

determining a width-to-height ratio or size for each snippet of the monochrome image defined by a bounding box;

determining whether the width-to-height ratio or size for the each snippet falls outside of a predetermined range; and

responsive to the width-to-height ratio or size for the each snippet falling outside of the predetermined range, discarding the each snippet.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein preparing the textual snippets for input to a single-layer neural network comprises scaling all the textual snippets to an input size of the single-layer neural network.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the input size is 24×24 pixels.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the single-layer neural network is configured for outputting, for each textual snippet, a probability that a zero degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, a probability that a 90 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, a probability that a 180 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, and a probability that a 270 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each textual snippet of the textual snippets has a high likelihood of containing at least a letter.

8. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and

stored instructions translatable by the processor for implementing an auto-rotation module on the apparatus, the auto-rotation module having a single-layer neural network and configured for:

converting a document image to a monochrome image having black and white pixels;

segmenting the monochrome image into bounding boxes, the segmenting including generating a bounding box defining a connected segment of black pixels in the monochrome image;

determining textual snippets from the bounding boxes;

preparing the textual snippets for input to the single-layer neural network;

processing the textual snippets using the single-layer neural network, wherein the single-layer neural network is trained to recognize a correct orientation of each textual snippet and output a set of results for the each textual snippet, each result of the set of results indicating a probability of a degree of rotation needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet;

examining results from the processing, the examining comprising comparing the probability with a threshold;

determining, based on a majority of the results from the examining, a correct orientation of the document image, the majority of the results indicating a degree of rotation needed to achieve the correct orientation of the document image; and

automatically rotating the document image by the degree of rotation to achieve the correct orientation of the document image.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the bounding box defines a set of coordinates in the monochrome image that contains the connected segment of black pixels.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein determining textual snippets from the bounding boxes comprises:

determining a width-to-height ratio or size for each snippet of the monochrome image defined by a bounding box;

determining whether the width-to-height ratio or size for the each snippet falls outside of a predetermined range; and

responsive to the width-to-height ratio or size for the each snippet falling outside of the predetermined range, discarding the each snippet.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein preparing the textual snippets for input to a single-layer neural network comprises scaling all the textual snippets to an input size of the single-layer neural network.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the input size is 24×24 pixels.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the single-layer neural network is configured for outputting, for each textual snippet, a probability that a zero degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, a probability that a 90 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, a probability that a 180 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, and a probability that a 270 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein each textual snippet of the textual snippets has a high likelihood of containing at least a letter.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions translatable by a processor of a user device for implementing an auto-rotation module having a single-layer neural network on the user device, the instructions when translated by the processor perform:

converting a document image to a monochrome image having black and white pixels;

segmenting the monochrome image into bounding boxes, the segmenting including generating a bounding box defining a connected segment of black pixels in the monochrome image;

determining textual snippets from the bounding boxes;

preparing the textual snippets for input to the single-layer neural network;

processing the textual snippets using the single-layer neural network, wherein the single-layer neural network is trained to recognize a correct orientation of each textual snippet and output a set of results for the each textual snippet, each result of the set of results indicating a probability of a degree of rotation needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet;

examining results from the processing, the examining comprising comparing the probability with a threshold;

determining, based on a majority of the results from the examining, a correct orientation of the document image, the majority of the results indicating a degree of rotation needed to achieve the correct orientation of the document image; and

automatically rotating the document image by the degree of rotation to achieve the correct orientation of the document image.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the bounding box defines a set of coordinates in the monochrome image that contains the connected segment of black pixels.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein determining textual snippets from the bounding boxes comprises:

determining a width-to-height ratio or size for each snippet of the monochrome image defined by a bounding box;

determining whether the width-to-height ratio or size for the each snippet falls outside of a predetermined range; and

responsive to the width-to-height ratio or size for the each snippet falling outside of the predetermined range, discarding the each snippet.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein preparing the textual snippets for input to a single-layer neural network comprises scaling all the textual snippets to an input size of the single-layer neural network.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the input size is 24×24 pixels.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the single-layer neural network is configured for outputting, for each textual snippet, a probability that a zero degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, a probability that a 90 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, a probability that a 180 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet, and a probability that a 270 degree of rotation is needed to achieve the correct orientation of the each textual snippet.