A Genetic-LVQ neural networks approach for handwritten Arabic character recognition

Handwritten recognition systems are a dynamic field of research in areas of artificial intelligence. Many smart devices available in the market such as pen-based computers, tablets, mobiles with handwritten recognition technology need to rely on efficient handwritten recognition systems. In this paper we present a novel Arabic character handwritten recognition system based on a hybrid method consisting of a genetic algorithm and a Learning vector quantization (LVQ) neural network. Sixty different handwritten Arabic character datasets are used for training the neural network. Each character dataset contains 28 letters written twice with 15 distinct shaped alphabets, and each handwritten Arabic letter is represented by a binary matrix that is used as an input to a genetic algorithm for feature selection and dimension reduction to include only the most effective features to be fed to the LVQ classifier. The recognition process in the system involves several essential steps such as: handwritten letter acquisition, dataset preparation, feature selection, training, and recognition. Comparing our results to those acquired by the whole feature dataset without selection, and to the results using other classification algorithms confirms the effectiveness of our proposed handwritten recognition system with an accuracy of 95.4%, hence, showing a promising potential for improving future handwritten Arabic recognition devices in the market.