Capturing text from rendered documents using supplemental information
A system for processing a text capture operation is described. The system receives text captured from a rendered document in the text capture operation. The system also receives supplemental information distinct from the captured text. The system determines an action to perform in response to the text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information.
1. A method in a computing system having a processor for processing a distinguished text capture operation, comprising:
receiving text captured from a distinguished rendered document in the distinguished text capture operation;
receiving supplemental information distinct from the captured text; and
with the processor, determining an action to perform in response to the distinguished text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information,
wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and
wherein the received supplemental information includes a document rendering characteristic observed in a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user and a corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation, and
wherein the determined action is identifying different electronic documents as corresponding to the rendered documents in which the distinguished text capture operation and the previous text capture operation were performed based upon a difference between the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the received captured text is captured from a printed document.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying optical character recognition techniques to an image captured from the distinguished rendered document to generate the captured text.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying voice recognition techniques to an audio clip of a person reading aloud from the distinguished rendered document to generate the captured text.
5. The method of claim 1
wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and
wherein the received supplemental information includes text captured in previous text capture operations by the distinguished user, and
wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different fonts.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different font sizes.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different paper types.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the determined action is identifying a position in a distinguished electronic document that is subsequent to a position identified in the distinguished electronic document as the site of a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user as the site of the distinguished text capture operation.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the received supplemental information indicates a geographic location at which the distinguished capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises:
identifying a plurality of electronic documents containing the received captured text; and
ranking the likelihood of the identified electronic documents corresponding to the distinguished rendered document based upon the likelihood that a rendered version of each identified electronic document would be available in the indicated geographic location.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the received captured text to identify an electronic document corresponding to the distinguished rendered document, wherein the received supplemental information indicates a geographic location at which rendered copies of the identified electronic document are likely to be available, and wherein the determining comprises determining that the text capture operation was performed at the indicated geographic location.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed using a text capture device, and wherein the received supplemental information includes information about an ambient environment in which the distinguished text capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the distinguished text capture operation involves capturing an image of the captured text from the distinguished rendered document, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a frequency of light received in the image capture.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein the distinguished text capture operation involves capturing an audio clip of a person reading aloud from the distinguished rendered document, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of background sounds contained in the audio clip.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device comprises determining to disable the distinguished capability.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a time of day at which the distinguished image capture operation was performed, and the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a day of week at which the distinguished image capture operation was performed, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of recent interactions of the distinguished user with electronic documents, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the received supplemental information identifies documents that the distinguished user has recently loaded.
20. A computer-readable recording medium having contents configured to cause a computing system having a processor to perform operations of processing a distinguished text capture operation, the operations comprising:
receiving text captured from a distinguished rendered document in the distinguished text capture operation;
receiving supplemental information distinct from the captured text; and
with the processor, determining an action to perform in response to the distinguished text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information,
wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes a document rendering characteristic observed in a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user and a corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation, and wherein the determined action is identifying different electronic documents as corresponding to the rendered documents in which the distinguished text capture operation and the previous text capture operation were performed based upon a difference between the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation.
21. A computer-readable recording medium having contents configured to cause a computing system having a processor to perform operations of processing a distinguished text capture operation, the operations comprising:
receiving text captured from a distinguished rendered document in the distinguished text capture operation;
receiving supplemental information distinct from the captured text; and
with the processor, determining an action to perform in response to the distinguished text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information,
wherein the received supplemental information indicates a geographic location at which the distinguished capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises:
identifying a plurality of electronic documents containing the received captured text; and
ranking the likelihood of the identified electronic documents corresponding to the distinguished rendered document based upon the likelihood that a rendered version of each identified electronic document would be available in the indicated geographic location.
22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the received captured text is captured from a printed document.
23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprises applying optical character recognition techniques to an image captured from the distinguished rendered document to generate the captured text.
24. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the set of functions further comprises applying voice recognition techniques to an audio clip of a person reading aloud from the distinguished rendered document to generate the captured text.
25. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes text captured in previous text capture operations by the distinguished user, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
26. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes a document rendering characteristic observed in a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user and a corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation, and wherein the determined action is identifying different electronic documents as corresponding to the rendered documents in which the distinguished text capture operation and the previous text capture operation were performed based upon a difference between the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation.
27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different fonts.
28. The computer-readable medium of claim 26 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different font sizes.
29. The computer-readable medium of claim 26 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different paper types.
30. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the determined action is identifying a position in a distinguished electronic document that is subsequent to a position identified in the distinguished electronic document as the site of a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user as the site of the distinguished text capture operation.
31. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the operations further comprises using the received captured text to identify an electronic document corresponding to the distinguished rendered document, wherein the received supplemental information indicates a geographic location at which rendered copies of the identified electronic document are likely to be available, and wherein the determining comprises determining that the text capture operation was performed at the indicated geographic location.
32. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed using a text capture device, and wherein the received supplemental information includes information about an ambient environment in which the distinguished text capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device.
33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the distinguished text capture operation involves capturing an image of the captured text from the distinguished rendered document, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a frequency of light received in the image capture.
34. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the distinguished text capture operation involves capturing an audio clip of a person reading aloud from the distinguished rendered document, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of background sounds contained in the audio clip.
35. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device comprises determining to disable the distinguished capability.
36. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a time of day at which the distinguished image capture operation was performed, and the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
37. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a day of week at which the distinguished image capture operation was performed, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
38. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of recent interactions of the distinguished user with electronic documents, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the received supplemental information identifies documents that the distinguished user has recently loaded.
40. A method in a computing system having a processor for processing a distinguished text capture operation, comprising:
receiving text captured from a distinguished rendered document in the distinguished text capture operation;
receiving supplemental information distinct from the captured text; and
with the processor, determining an action to perform in response to the distinguished text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information,
wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes a document rendering characteristic observed in a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user and a corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation, and wherein the determined action is identifying different electronic documents as corresponding to the rendered documents in which the distinguished text capture operation and the previous text capture operation were performed based upon a difference between the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation.
41. A method in a computing system having a processor for processing a distinguished text capture operation, comprising:
receiving text captured from a distinguished rendered document in the distinguished text capture operation;
receiving supplemental information distinct from the captured text; and
with the processor, determining an action to perform in response to the distinguished text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information,
wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed using a text capture device, and wherein the received supplemental information includes information about an ambient environment in which the distinguished text capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device.
42. The method of claim 41 wherein the received captured text is captured from a printed document.
43. The method of claim 41 , further comprising applying optical character recognition techniques to an image captured from the distinguished rendered document to generate the captured text.
44. The method of claim 41 , further comprising applying voice recognition techniques to an audio clip of a person reading aloud from the distinguished rendered document to generate the captured text.
45. The method of claim 41 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes text captured in previous text capture operations by the distinguished user, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
46. The method of claim 41 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes a document rendering characteristic observed in a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user and a corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation, and wherein the determined action is identifying different electronic documents as corresponding to the rendered documents in which the distinguished text capture operation and the previous text capture operation were performed based upon a difference between the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation.
47. The method of claim 46 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different fonts.
48. The method of claim 46 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different font sizes.
49. The method of claim 46 wherein the document rendering characteristic observed in the previous text capture operation and the corresponding document rendering characteristic observed in the distinguished text capture operation are different paper types.
50. The method of claim 41 wherein the determined action is identifying a position in a distinguished electronic document that is subsequent to a position identified in the distinguished electronic document as the site of a previous text capture operation by the distinguished user as the site of the distinguished text capture operation.
51. The method of claim 41 wherein the received supplemental information indicates a geographic location at which the distinguished capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises:
identifying a plurality of electronic documents containing the received captured text; and
ranking the likelihood of the identified electronic documents corresponding to the distinguished rendered document based upon the likelihood that a rendered version of each identified electronic document would be available in the indicated geographic location.
52. The method of claim 41 , further comprising using the received captured text to identify an electronic document corresponding to the distinguished rendered document, wherein the received supplemental information indicates a geographic location at which rendered copies of the identified electronic document are likely to be available, and wherein the determining comprises determining that the text capture operation was performed at the indicated geographic location.
53. The method of claim 41 wherein the distinguished text capture operation involves capturing an image of the captured text from the distinguished rendered document, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a frequency of light received in the image capture.
54. The method of claim 41 wherein the distinguished text capture operation involves capturing an audio clip of a person reading aloud from the distinguished rendered document, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of background sounds contained in the audio clip.
55. The method of claim 41 wherein determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device comprises determining to disable the distinguished capability.
56. The method of claim 41 wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a time of day at which the distinguished image capture operation was performed, and the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
57. The method of claim 41 wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of a day of week at which the distinguished image capture operation was performed, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
58. The method of claim 41 wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed by a distinguished user, and wherein the received supplemental information includes an indication of recent interactions of the distinguished user with electronic documents, and wherein the determined action is identifying a single electronic document as corresponding to the distinguished rendered document.
59. The method of claim 41 wherein the received supplemental information identifies documents that the distinguished user has recently loaded.
60. A computer-readable recording medium having contents configured to cause a computing system having a processor to perform operations of processing a distinguished text capture operation, the operations comprising:
receiving text captured from a distinguished rendered document in the distinguished text capture operation;
receiving supplemental information distinct from the captured text; and
with the processor, determining an action to perform in response to the distinguished text capture operation based upon both the captured text and the supplemental information,
wherein the distinguished text capture operation is performed using a text capture device, and wherein the received supplemental information includes information about an ambient environment in which the distinguished text capture operation was performed, and wherein the determining comprises determining a configuration of a distinguished capability of the device.