Multilingual OCR systems for the regional languages in Balochistan
Anwar Ali Sanjrani · Indian Journal of Science and Technology · 2020
Background: There are various languages for which an optical character recognition technology has been developed but most of these address a particular language and thereby multilingual OCR remains a challenge. Methods: Development of multilingual OCR is one of a highly debated issue. Researcher are studying the feasibility and operational feasibility of multilingual OCR from technical as well as from viable aspects. Multilingual OCR includes printed or handwritten characters’ form. In this paper, we study the significance, challenges and issues of developing multilingual OCR system for regional language based on Persio-Arabic script by conducting a comprehensive survery about the operational viability of mmultilingual OCR. Findings: A feedback of 339 participants is collected through an online surgery to find the scope and applicability of multilingual OCR. The respondents were from different linguistic background. The study identified that a large majority of participants are willing to use their native language for the accomplishment of their computational task and deemed that the support of multiple languages in a software would increase their productivity. Novelty: In current form, the study addresses the viability of multilingual OCR of regional language based on Persio-Arabic script. To the best of our knowledge, such kind of study has not been conducted for the domain of Pakistan. Keywords:Multilingual, OCR, Multi-fonts, Omnifont, Regional languages