An Enhancement of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Algorithm Applied in Translating Signages to Filipino

Shieryl E. Tendilla (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila)
Ivan Rey R. Dumago (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila)
Francis Arlando L Atienza (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila)
Dan Michael A Cortez (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila)

Proceeding of The International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2024): July : Proceeding of the International Conference on Electrical Engineering and

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) systems often struggle to extract text accurately from images captured at various distances, particularly under challenging conditions such as blurriness, noise, or poor lighting. These issues are common in real-world scenarios and limit the effectiveness of existing OCR technologies. This study addresses these challenges by applying Gaussian blur after the grayscale conversion. This method reduces noise for the image's clarity without sacrificing the original algorithm's key features. Results revealed that the enhanced OCR algorithm significantly outperformed existing methods in terms of accuracy and confidence levels. It demonstrated the ability to read signages with higher precision, even in difficult conditions such as intricate designs, poor lighting, and long distances. This advancement enables more reliable text recognition and translation, offering practical applications for public signage translation, cross-cultural communication, and improved accessibility in multilingual environments.