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https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/image-group/programsprojects/legacy-projects/optical-character-recognition-ocr

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## Image Group

-  Programs/Projects  Expand or Collapse    -  Fingerprint  Expand or Collapse      -  ANSI/NIST-ITL Standard 
    -  Fingerprint Compression  Expand or Collapse        -  WSQ Certification Procedure 
      -  Biometric Compression Information 
      -  JPEG 2000 Conformance Testing 
    -  Fingerprint Recognition  Expand or Collapse        -  Minutiae Interoperability Exchange (MINEX) 
      -  Proprietary Fingerprint Template Evaluations (PFT) 
      -  Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation (FpVTE) 
      -  Slap Fingerprint Segmentation Evaluation (Slapseg) 
      -  Biometric Quality 
      -  Evaluation of Latent Fingerprint Technologies (ELFT) 
    -  Next Generation Fingerprint Technologies  Expand or Collapse        -  Contactless Fingerprint Capture 
      -  Fast Tenprint Capture 
      -  Statistical Friction Ridge Analysis (SFRA) 
  -  Iris  Expand or Collapse      -  IRIS Experts Group II 
    -  Iris Challenge Evaluation (ICE) 
    -  Iris Exchange (IREX) 
    -  Multiple Biometric Evaluation (MBE) 
    -  Multiple Biometrics Grand Challenge (MBGC) 
  -  Face  Expand or Collapse      -  Chexia Face Recognition 
    -  Face Challenges 
    -  Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) 
    -  Face Recognition Prize Challenge (FRPC) 2017 
    -  Face Recognition Technology (FERET) 
    -  Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) Ongoing 
    -  Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 
    -  Face and Ocular Challenge Series (FOCS) 
    -  Face in Video Evaluation (FIVE) 
    -  Multiple Biometric Evaluation (MBE) 
    -  Multiple Biometric Grand Challenge (MBGC) 
    -  Point and Shoot Face Recognition Challenge (PaSC) 
    -  Text Recognition Algorithm Independent Evaluation (TRAIT) 
  -  Tattoo  Expand or Collapse      -  Tattoo Recognition Technology - Evaluation (Tatt-E) 
    -  Tattoo Recognition Technology – Challenge (Tatt-C) 
  -  Biometrics 
  -  Legacy Projects  Expand or Collapse      -  Neural Networks 
    -  Optical Character Recognition (OCR) 
    -  PATRIOT Act Research 
  -  Biometric Web Services (BWS) 
  -  Digital Video Exchange Standards 
-  Resources  Expand or Collapse    -  Biometric Special Databases and Software 
  -  Biometrics Evaluations 
  -  INCITS Standardized Biometric Data 
  -  Image Group Publications (by year) 
  -  Image Group Workshops/Conferences/Talks 
-  Staff Listing 
-  Publications 
-  Products and Services  Expand or Collapse    -  Image Group Open Source Server (NIGOS) 
  -  Encrypting Software/Data for Transmission to NIST 
  -  Software  Expand or Collapse      -  Biometric Evaluation Framework 
    -  Fingerprint Minutiae Viewer (FpMV) 
    -  Multimodal Biometric Application Resource Kit (MBARK) 
    -  NIST Biometric Image Software (NBIS) 
    -  BiomAPP - NIST Biometric Data Interchange Format Software Tools 
    -  BiomDI - Software tools supporting Standard Biometrics Data Interchange Formats 
    -  Dental Encoding Translator Applications Suite (DEnTAS) 
    -  Development of NFIQ 2.0 
    -  NIST Fingerprint Registration and Comparison Tool (NFRaCT) 
    -  Public Domain OCR 
    -  Video-based Automatic System for Iris Recognition (VASIR) 

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# Legacy - Optical Character Recognition (OCR) homepage

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The Image Group conducted research for nearly a decade in areas of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) over the period of 1989 through 1998. Much of the focus at that time was on Hand Print Recognition from forms, which also included elements of Document Image Understanding. The Image Group's work in this area was in partnership with the IRS and the Bureau of Census, having direct impact and support to tax modernization efforts and the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses. Advances in OCR were spurred on over this period as a result of increasing computation power of computers and from break-throughs in new generations of neural network and machine learning algorithms. The technology and market once again plateaued, and the Image Group transitioned and consolidated it focus onto biometric technologies. 

Publications relating to the Image Group's OCR work

A page containing information from the Census & NIST sponsored OCR conferences.

The greatest legacy of the Image Group's OCR work is the public domain form-based hand print recognition technologies called (HSFSYS) downloadable here.

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