Algorithm for capturing machine readable zones

Question

What method is suitable to capture (detect) MRZ from a photo of a document? I'm thinking about cascade classifier (e.g. Viola-Jones), but it seems a bit weird to use it for this problem.

Answer 1

If you know that you will look for text in a passport, why not try to find passport model points on it first. Match template of a passport to it by using ASM/AAM (Active shape model, Active Appearance Model) techniques. Once you have passport position information you can cut out the regions that you are interested in. This will take some time to implement though.