Abstract: Segmentation of architectural floor plans is a challenging task, mainly because of the large variability in the notation between different plans. In general, traditional techniques, usually based on analyzing and grouping structural primitives obtained by vectorization, are only able to handle a reduced range of similar notations. In this paper we propose an alternative patch-based segmentation approach working at pixel level, without need of vectorization. The image is divided into a set of patches and a set of features is extracted for every patch. Then, each patch is assigned to a visual word of a previously learned vocabulary and given a probability of belonging to each class of objects. Finally, a post-process assigns the final label for every pixel. This approach has been applied to the detection of walls on two datasets of architectural floor plans with different notations, achieving high accuracy rates.

Abstract: To cope with the tremendous variations of writing styles encountered between different individuals, unconstrained automatic handwriting recognition systems need to be trained on large sets of labeled data. Traditionally, the training data has to be labeled manually, which is a laborious and costly process. Semi-supervised learning techniques offer methods to utilize unlabeled data, which can be obtained cheaply in large amounts in order, to reduce the need for labeled data. In this paper, we propose the use of Co-Training for improving the recognition accuracy of two weakly trained handwriting recognition systems. The first one is based on Recurrent Neural Networks while the second one is based on Hidden Markov Models. On the IAM off-line handwriting database we demonstrate a significant increase of the recognition accuracy can be achieved with Co-Training for single word recognition.

Abstract: This paper presents the results of the first Challenge of ICDAR 2011 Robust Reading Competition. Challenge 1 is focused on the extraction of text from born-digital images, specifically from images found in Web pages and emails. The challenge was organized in terms of three tasks that look at different stages of the process: text localization, text segmentation and word recognition. In this paper we present the results of the challenge for all three tasks, and make an open call for continuous participation outside the context of ICDAR 2011.

Abstract: We present a method for spotting a subgraph in a graph repository. Subgraph spotting is a very interesting research problem for various application domains where the use of a relational data structure is mandatory. Our proposed method accomplishes subgraph spotting through graph embedding. We achieve automatic indexation of a graph repository during off-line learning phase, where we (i) break the graphs into 2-node sub graphs (a.k.a. cliques of order 2), which are primitive building-blocks of a graph, (ii) embed the 2-node sub graphs into feature vectors by employing our recently proposed explicit graph embedding technique, (iii) cluster the feature vectors in classes by employing a classic agglomerative clustering technique, (iv) build an index for the graph repository and (v) learn a Bayesian network classifier. The subgraph spotting is achieved during the on-line querying phase, where we (i) break the query graph into 2-node sub graphs, (ii) embed them into feature vectors, (iii) employ the Bayesian network classifier for classifying the query 2-node sub graphs and (iv) retrieve the respective graphs by looking-up in the index of the graph repository. The graphs containing all query 2-node sub graphs form the set of result graphs for the query. Finally, we employ the adjacency matrix of each result graph along with a score function, for spotting the query graph in it. The proposed subgraph spotting method is equally applicable to a wide range of domains, offering ease of query by example (QBE) and granularity of focused retrieval. Experimental results are presented for graphs generated from two repositories of electronic and architectural document images.