Smart Engines, a global player in artificial intelligence technology, has been granted a US patent for a key component of its smartphone document scanning technology that uses a video camera. The development is part of Smart Engines’ range of software development kits (SDKs), which are used by SMEs and global corporations.
Unlike earlier generations of recognition systems that used handheld scanners, smartphones allow using a video stream for recognition. The scanning system inputs a series of images of an object of varying quality, including highlights, unusual perspectives, or even darkness.
The authors of the patent – Research Assistant Programmer Olga Petrova, Senior Research Assistant Programmer, Ph.D. in Computer Science Konstantin Bulatov, and CEO of Smart Engines Ph.D. in Computer Science Vladimir Arlazarov – proposed to evaluate the suitability of incoming frames for recognition to improve the quality of document scanning. They called this method weighted integration.
According to the patent, the scientists proposed to use the best 50% of frames based on image focus accuracy and recognition scores and to assign a weight to each character based on these criteria. For example, if part of the field were obscured by a finger or glare, the weight for a character would tend towards zero, whereas if the character were clearly visible, its value would be close to one.
The weighted integration method for scanning text in a video stream was invented by Smart Engines scientists in 2015. It became the basis for Smart Engines SDK line, including Smart ID Engine, Smart Code Engine, and Smart Document Engine.
Scientific research for Smart Engines plays the role of strategic investment, says Vladimir Arlazarov. We are seriously investing in science and developing the scientific direction of our company, not only to produce products for today, but also to solve problems that have not yet arisen; and to be ready for the challenges of tomorrow.
This is the fourth patent that Smart Engines scientists have been granted in the US and the third consecutive patent that the company has received from the US in 2023. Vladimir Arlazarov comments, The patent for document recognition technology in a video stream is our third invention to be registered in the US this year. America has now recognised our company’s leadership in the field of mobile scanning, and the current patent is proof of this.
