Ricoh Visual Search (RVS) Technology

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What is Ricoh Visual Search (RVS)?

RVS technology establishes the relationship between information on printed paper with digital information and services on the Internet. This technology has been developed by Ricoh Innovations Corporation in Silicon Valley, U.S.A. RVS replaces unsightly two-dimensional bar-codes and QR codes and instead establishes link areas to any portion of a document before or after printing. It offers a flexible and natural connection between paper media and digital content or services and offers the potential of new applications and services.

Sample Application

As an example, capturing a portion of a magazine article with a smartphone camera, the RVS server provides relevant on-line information and services related to article (Figure 1).

RVS过程如下：创作过程使得与要将其上载到RVS服务器的文章相关联的数据。捕获的图像被发送到RVS服务器并识别。与捕获图像相关的数字信息位于并提供给用户的智能手机。

(1) Capturing a part of a magazine with smartphone camera.
(2) Document is identified in the database and the related information is sent to user' s smartphone.
Figure 1: Sample application of RVS technology

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Features of Ricoh Visual Search (RVS)

RVS technology has the following key features that can support a wide range of applications.

• There is no need to dedicate valuable space to unsightly bar codes or QR codes
• RVS capability can be added to printed documents without requiring any editing or reformatting
• Any type of document can be recognized, including text (in any language), figures, photographs or a combination of these
• Dedicated on-line information can be linked to multiple areas within a single document
• RVS can recognize low resolution images, enabling high speed and robust recognition

Technology behind Ricoh Visual Search (RVS)

RVS technology includes innovative recognition algorithms, data authoring and search technologies. The recognition technology uses image characteristics of printed/captured image similar to fingerprint matching recognition (Figure 2).

Figure 2: RVS Technologies

Potential Applications

RVS technology is applicable to publications and any kind of printed media including newspapers, magazines, books, brochures and posters. All types of digital information or services can be linked including multimedia content, web sites, e-commerce services or social network services.

视频1介绍了将驾驶手册联系到在线视频的应用程序，清楚地解释了驾驶技巧。这种应用程序允许用户获得更难以在纸上进行通信的详细信息。

Video 1: Application linked to a video in a driving manual

Additional applications include linking content of a brochure to e-commerce sites. For example, by capturing an image of a product in a mail-order catalogue, you can review detailed information on your smartphone and instantly purchase the product. This combination of printed content and digital information provides updated information and allows an easy and quick method of purchase.

Finally, RVS technology can add additional information and services after printing. As an example, after capturing an image of an exhibition program on a smartphone, additional information including audio comments or text can be captured and associated with this image. RVS can then be used as ‘sticky note' enabling these comments to be retrieved at a later date. This type application allows an easy way of managing information with mobile devices.

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排序 ：field“Image Processing / Analysis”| product type“Solutions”