OCR MRZ Document Reader helps Airport Border Control

The convenience of public transportation has being boosting international travel. People prefer to spend their holiday abroad. In 2016, there were 122 million Chinese people who have traveled aboard in this single year. In order to manage this high volume of passengers, every country has turned to Travel Document Reader, namely Passport Reader, for help.

Generally speaking, we have passport, e-passport, ID cards, visa, driver license to prove our identity. They contain your basic information, such as your name, nationality, date of birth, gender, passport number or ID number, expiration date and your photograph. Traditionally, customs officer has to type everything manually; now, with the help of OCR (optical character recognition) technology, it’s possible to transfer printed texts into digital information automatically within few seconds. Passport Reader is based on OCR tech developed by Tsinghua University, and it helps to simplify the whole registration process, and in the meanwhile ensures the accuracy of ID data.

Passport Reader consists of hardware (scanner) and software (Wintone OCR SDK). The scanner is responsible for capture high-resolution document images, and Wintone OCR SDK will process these images and provide digitized ID info. After integration, passengers just need to place their ID or passport face-down on the scanner, all ID information can automatically fill into customs system within 2 seconds.

Currently, Wintone Passport Reader is able to extract data from ICAO 9303 & non-ICAO compliant travel documents, including passport, e-passport, visa, ID cards, driver license. It can support documents in ultraviolet and infrared images; it could decode MRZ and access data directly from passport chip (RFID function). The workflow of Wintone passport reader is as following:

1, automatically detect document;

2, capture high-resolution document images in visible, IR, UV illumination;

3, transfer these images to the SDK via USB;

4, process the image with OCR technology;

5, read passport chip with RFID function;

6, get results and save in designated location;

Passport Reader for airport ensures the safety for both visitors and citizens. Except airport application, Passport Reader can also be used for hotel management system, ticket self-service machine, car rent registration.