Method and System for Imaging Documents, Such As Passports, Border Crossing Cards, Visas, and Other Travel Documents, In Mobile Applications

A mobile computing device-implemented method of imaging an object to read information, comprising the steps of:

• a) initializing a plurality of image processing threads;
• b) initializing one or more of image capturing and image analysis threads;
• c) capturing, by running the image capturing thread, a plurality of raw images of the object by an image capturing component of the mobile computing device and placing in an image queue in a first memory location;
• d) processing, by running the image processing threads, a plurality of raw images to extract potential machine readable zone (MRZ) candidates and placing in a MRZ candidate queue in a second memory location;
• e) analyzing, by running the image analysis thread, an MRZ candidate to detect an MRZ and placing in an MRZ queue in a third memory location;
• and
• f) creating a composite MRZ if a timer has expired, or the MRZ queue has reached a predetermined threshold.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium with instructions stored thereon, that when executed by a processing device, perform the steps comprising:

• a) initializing a plurality of image processing threads;
• b) initializing one or more of image capturing and image analysis threads;
• c) capturing, by running the image capturing thread, a plurality of raw images of an object by an image capturing component of the processing device and placing in an image queue in a first memory location;
• d) processing, by running the image processing threads, a plurality of raw images to extract potential machine readable zone (MRZ) candidates and placing in an MRZ candidate queue in a second memory location;
• e) analyzing, by running the image analysis thread, an MRZ candidate to detect an MRZ and placing in an MRZ queue in a third memory location;
• and
• f) creating a composite MRZ if a timer has expired, or the MRZ queue has reached a predetermined threshold.

A system for imaging an object to read information, comprising:

• a) an image capturing component;
• b) a control module that runs:
• i) an image capturing thread to capture a plurality of raw images of the object by the image capturing component and place in an image queue;
• ii) a plurality of image processing threads, each of which processes a raw image to extract a potential machine readable zone (MRZ) candidate and places in an MRZ candidate queue;
• iii) an image analysis thread that analyzes an MRZ candidate to detect an MRZ and places in an MRZ queue;
• c) a first memory location for the image queue;
• d) a second memory location for the MRZ candidate queue;
• e) a third memory location for the MRZ queue;
• and
• f) wherein the control module creates a composite MRZ if a timer expires, or the MRZ queue has reached a predetermined threshold.

A mobile computing device-implemented method of imaging an object to read information, comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing a plurality of raw images of the object by an image capturing component of the mobile computing device and placing in a first queue in a first memory location;
• b) processing, in one or more processors of the mobile device, a plurality of raw images substantially simultaneously to extract potential machine readable zone (MRZ) candidates and placing in a second queue in a second memory location;
• c) analyzing one of the MRZ candidates from the second queue to detect the presence of an MRZ;
• d) placing the MRZ of step c) in a third queue in a third memory location;
• and
• e) creating a composite MRZ if a timer has expired, or the third queue has reached a predetermined threshold.

A mobile computing device-implemented method of imaging an object to read information, comprising the steps of:

• a) capturing, by running an image capturing thread, a plurality of raw images of the object by an image capturing component of the mobile computing device and placing in an image queue in a first memory location;
• b) processing, by running an image processing thread, one or more raw images to extract one or more potential machine readable zone (MRZ) candidates and placing in a MRZ candidate queue in a second memory location;
• c) analyzing, by running an image analysis thread, an MRZ candidate to detect an MRZ and placing in an MRZ queue in a third memory location;
• and
• d) creating a composite MRZ if a timer has expired, or the MRZ queue has reached a predetermined threshold.