SEDIQA: Sound Emitting Document Image Quality Assessment in a Reading Aid for the Visually Impaired

For visually impaired people (VIPs), the ability to convert text to sound can mean a new level of independence or the simple joy of a good book. With significant advances in optical character recognition (OCR) in recent years, a number of reading aids are appearing on the market. These reading aids convert images captured by a camera to text which can then be read aloud. However, all of these reading aids suffer from a key issue—the user must be able to visually target the text and capture an image of sufficient quality for the OCR algorithm to function—no small task for VIPs. In this work, a sound-emitting document image quality assessment metric (SEDIQA) is proposed which allows the user to hear the quality of the text image and automatically captures the best image for OCR accuracy. This work also includes testing of OCR performance against image degradations, to identify the most significant contributors to accuracy reduction. The proposed no-reference image quality assessor (NR-IQA) is validated alongside established NR-IQAs and this work includes insights into the performance of these NR-IQAs on document images. SEDIQA is found to consistently select the best image for OCR accuracy. The full system includes a document image enhancement technique which introduces improvements in OCR accuracy with an average increase of 22% and a maximum increase of 68%.

SEDIQA: Sound Emitting Document Image Quality Assessment in a Reading Aid for the Visually Impaired

For Visually impaired People (VIPs), the ability to convert text to sound can mean a new level of independence or the simple joy of a good book. With significant advances in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in recent years, a number of reading aids are appearing on the market. These reading aids convert images captured by a camera to text which can then be read aloud. However, all of these reading aids suffer from a key issue – the user must be able to visually target the text and capture an image of sufficient quality for the OCR algorithm to function – no small task for VIPs. In this work, a Sound-Emitting Document Image Quality Assessment metric (SEDIQA) is proposed which allows the user to hear the quality of the text image and automatically captures the best image for OCR accuracy. This work also includes testing of OCR performance against image degradations, to identify the most significant contributors to accuracy reduction. The proposed No-Reference Image Quality Assessor (NR-IQA) is validated alongside established NR-IQAs and this work includes insights into the performance of these NR-IQAs on document images.

Cita & Impian Masyarakat Karacak Leuwiliang Bogor

This community service activity aims to provide opportunities for students to apply knowledge to build public awareness in preventing and overcoming the problem of the Covid-19 pandemic. The activity took place in Karacak Village, Leuwiliang District, Bogor, West Java. The method used is descriptive qualitative analysis based on observation and community participation in the field. The domicile-based thematic KKN was filled with activities for attaching posters, distributing masks, learning assistance, reading aids, work assistance, making hand sanitizers, socializing good hand washing, happy healthy exercise, and teaching assistance at TPQ Barkatul Huda in Kp. Lebak Sirna Rt 04/03 Karacak Village. The positive response given by residents is very diverse. The average citizen gave a good response to the holding of this domicile-based KKN.

Excerpta Historica Constantiniana: An Encyclopaedia from Tenth-Century Byzantium?

When approaching Byzantine-Greek texts that organize knowledge in one way or another, Byzantinists encounter similar issues to those facing Arabists working on pre-modern Arabic literature. In this article, I discuss two of these more specifically: (1) The layout of the medieval manuscripts has been hitherto systematically neglected, although many manuscripts contain chapter headings, lists of contents and other features that provide “reading aids” or “finding devices” and thus offer clues as to how the text they contain were conceived and designed to be read; and (2) The term “encyclopaedia” has been used in too vague a fashion with regard to Byzantine works of the tenth to twelfth centuries CE and has to be reconsidered. This article discusses both issues with reference to the example of the Excerpta historica Constantiniana (henceforth, Excerpta), apparently a reference work, written in Ancient Greek in Constantinople in the tenth century CE. The goal is to make a description of the Excerpta available to Arabists, laying the ground for future study of the two traditions in comparative perspective.

Impact of Reading on the Biological Foundations of Language, Cognition, and Emotion

The article explores the biology of reading and how reading influences the biological relationship among language, cognition, and emotion (LCE). Reading aids in the enhancement of LCE under the precondition that biological predispositions for reading ability and LCE, such as genetic makeup, epigenetic modifications and neuronal development are favourable. A conceptual model was developed to explain how reading incrementally enhances LCE. The model serves as a tool to understand the biological and pedagogical conditions through which reading helps in progressing through successive LCE levels. The article also proposes that this holistic perspective of reading, considering genetics, epigenetics, neuroscience, neuropsychology and pedagogy, paves way for targeted clinical and educational interventions for people with language learning difficulties/disability.