Digitization and paperless processing through the use of mobile imaging technology

Abstract

Even today, a large number of organizations collect data using paper forms. However, it can be difficult to aggregate, and analyze the data collected using paper forms. Better management and processing of forms and applications is indispensable to improving customer experience. But, typing the form data into a spreadsheet is time-consuming, mundane and may result in errors. Various attempts have been made to automate the process but the solutions require the use of expensive specialized hardware. This paper presents ACE, a system that uses computer vision and mobile imaging technology to capture data from any paper form using inexpensive and readily available smartphones. ACE is not restricted to a specific type of form, it is designed to dynamically adapt to any type of paper form presented to it. It generates template of the form, which the user wishes to extract data from. Later, this template is used to extract data from the filled form. The extracted data from filled forms is stored in a structured format, exportable as a CSV file.