Information processing apparatus, system, and control method for acquiring character string to sort articles

A system comprising a recognition apparatus and an information processing apparatus, wherein

• the recognition apparatus includes a first processor configured to:
• acquire a plurality of captured images from an image acquisition device through an image acquisition device interface;
• transmit and receive data to and from the information processing apparatus through a first communication interface;
• perform character recognition processing on the plurality of captured images according to a second algorithm different from a first algorithm;
• and
• transmit the plurality of captured images and character strings based on a result of the character recognition processing to the information processing apparatus through the first communication interface, and
• the information processing apparatus includes a second processor configured to:
• acquire, through a capture board and from an image input device, a display screen image, the display screen image being generated by the image input device based on a first captured image of the plurality of captured images output from the image acquisition device, wherein recognition of a character string included in the first captured image according to the first algorithm fails, and a resolution of the display screen image is lower than a resolution of the first captured image;
• transmit and receive data to and from the recognition apparatus through a second communication interface;
• acquire a subset of the plurality of captured images as search candidates from the recognition apparatus through the second communication interface based on a time at which the display screen image was acquired, the subset of captured images being captured in an estimation period, the estimation period being a duration of time between a predetermined time preceding a capture time and another predetermined time elapsed from the capture time, wherein the capture time is a time at which the first captured image was captured, wherein the capture time is determined based on the time at which the display screen image was acquired;
• search the search candidates for a second captured image that matches the display screen image based on a degree of similarity of the images;
• acquire the character string included in the first captured image based on the result of the character recognition processing of the second captured image from the recognition apparatus through the second communication interface;
• and
• input the character string to the image input device through an input interface.

A control method executed by a processor, the method comprising:

• performing character recognition processing on the plurality of captured images according to a second algorithm different from a first algorithm;
• acquiring a display screen image from an image input device and through a capture board, the display screen image being generated by the image input device based on a first captured image of a plurality of captured images output from an image acquisition device, wherein recognition of a character string included in the first captured image according to the first algorithm fails, and a resolution of the display screen image is lower than a resolution of the first captured image;
• acquiring, from the image acquisition device, a subset of the plurality of captured images as search candidates based on a time at which the display screen image was acquired, the subset of captured images being captured in an estimation period, the estimation period being a duration of time between a predetermined time preceding a capture time and another predetermined time elapsed from the capture time, wherein the capture time is a time at which the first captured image was captured, wherein the capture time is determined based on the time at which the display screen image was acquired;
• searching search candidates for a second captured image that matches the display screen image based on a degree of similarity of the images;
• acquiring a character string included in the first captured image based on a result of the character recognition processing of the second captured image according to the second algorithm;
• and
• inputting, to the image input device, the character string based on a result of the character recognition processing of the searched for captured image.