Automatic Evaluation Framework for Word Spotting

Word spotting is the task of retrieving a text region that has a similar appearance to a query image specified by the user. This paper proposes an automatic evaluation framework for word spotting methods. In order to make our framework available to researchers around the world, we discuss some standard definitions and representations that are suitable for most word spotting methods, regardless of the assumptions and settings on which the individual methods depend. We also design a protocol for interprocess communication between a parent process and a word spotting engine. This protocol can modularize individual spotting methods to become interchangeable parts in a larger application. Our framework will promote the development of such a word spotting method and improve its usability.