On the Mathematics of Mathematical Handwriting Recognition

Abstract-Accurate computer recognition of handwritten mathematics offers to provide a natural interface for mathematical computing, document creation and collaboration. Mathematical handwriting, however, provides a number of challenges beyond what is required for the recognition of handwritten natural languages. For example, it is usual to use symbols from a range of different alphabets and there are many similar-looking symbols. Many writers are unfamiliar with the symbols they must use and therefore write them incorrectly. Mathematical notation is two-dimensional and size and placement information is important. Additionally, there is no fixed vocabulary of mathematical “words” that can be used to disambiguate symbol sequences. On the other hand, there are some simplifications. For example, symbols do tend to be well-segmented. With these charactersitics, new methods of character recognition are important for accurate handwritten mathematics input.