Pattern matching misses out
I read with great interest Andy Wilson`s article "Pattern-matching imaging software overcomes variances" (Vision Systems Design, May 1999, p. 50). While it provides a good perspective on how geometric-based pattern-finding/search tools solve problems associated with normalized gray-scale correlation, the article neglected to mention FastOCR from Logical Vision (Burnaby, BC, Canada), a division of Coreco (St-Laurent, Quebec, Canada). This software package is also based on geometric pattern matching and offers both scale and rotational variance. What sets this product apart from the others discussed in the article is that FastOCR does not simply look for one single pattern, but rather the reading engine processes dozens of patterns simultaneously at rates of more than 1000 characters/second. Indeed, speed is identified as one of the most important parameters for locating objects within images, but the article does not list the speed of any of the other packages.
Kumi Verma
Coreco Inc.
St-Laurent, Quebec, H4T 1V8 Canada
www.coreco.com