A platform to extract knowledge from graphic documents.: Application to an architectural sketch understanding scenario

This paper proposes a general architecture to extract knowledge from graphic documents. The architecture consists of three major components. First, a set of modules able to extract descriptors that, combined with domain-dependent knowledge and recognition strategies, allow to interpret a given graphical document. Second, a representation model based on a graph structure that allows to hierarchically represent the information of the document at different abstraction levels. Finally, the third component implements a calligraphic interface that allows the feedback between the user and the system. The second part of the paper describes an application scenario of the above platform. The scenario is a system for the interpretation of sketches of architectural plans. This is a tool to convert sketches to a CAD representation or to edit a given plan by a sketchy interface. The application scenario combines different symbol recognition algorithms stated in terms of document descriptors to extract building elements such as doors, windows, walls and furniture.