The ML Kit Text Recognition API can recognize text in any Latin-based character set. It can also be used to automate data-entry tasks such as processing credit cards, receipts, and business cards.
Key capabilities
- Recognize text across Latin-based languages Supports recognizing text using Latin script
- Analyze structure of text Supports detection of words/elements, lines and paragraphs
- Identify language of text Identifies the language of the recognized text
- Small application footprint On Android, the API is offered as an unbundled library through Google Play Services
- Real-time recognition Can recognize text in real-time on a wide range of devices
Text structure
The Text Recognizer segments text into blocks, lines, elements and symbols. Roughly speaking:
a Block is a contiguous set of text lines, such as a paragraph or column,
a Line is a contiguous set of words on the same axis, and
an Element is a contiguous set of alphanumeric characters ("word") on the same axis in most Latin languages, or a word in others
an Symbol is a single alphanumeric character on the same axis in most Latin languages, or a character in others
The image below highlights examples of each of these in descending order. The first highlighted block, in cyan, is a Block of text. The second set of highlighted blocks, in blue, are Lines of text. Finally, the third set of highlighted blocks, in dark blue, are Words.
For all detected blocks, lines, elements and symbols, the API returns the bounding boxes, corner points, rotation information, confidence score, recognized languages and recognized text.
Example results
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, "Düsseldorf, Wege der parlamentarischen Demokratie -- 2015 -- 8123", CC BY-SA 4.0
| Recognized Text | |
|---|---|
| Text | Wege der parlamentarischen Demokratie |
| Blocks | (1 block) |
| Block 0 | |
|---|---|
| Text | Wege der parlamentarischen Demokratie |
| Frame | (296, 665 - 796, 882) |
| Corner Points | (296, 719), (778, 665), (796, 828), (314, 882) |
| Recognized Language Code | de |
| Lines | (3 lines) |
| Line 0 | |
|---|---|
| Text | Wege der |
| Frame | (434, 678 - 670, 749) |
| Corner Points | (434, 705), (665, 678), (670, 722), (439, 749) |
| Recognized Language Code | de |
| Confidence Score | 0.8766741 |
| Rotation Degree | -6.6116457 |
| Elements | (2 elements) |
| Element 0 | |
|---|---|
| Text | Wege |
| Frame | (434, 689 - 575, 749) |
| Corner Points | (434, 705), (570, 689), (575, 733), (439, 749) |
| Recognized Language Code | de |
| Confidence Score | 0.8964844 |
| Rotation Degree | -6.6116457 |
| Elements | (4 elements) |
| Symbol 0 | |
|---|---|
| Text | W |
| Frame | (434, 698 - 500, 749) |
| Corner Points | (434, 706), (495, 698), (500, 741), (439, 749) |
| Confidence Score | 0.87109375 |
| Rotation Degree | -6.611646 |