<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
browser	B-Protocol
extension	I-Protocol
software	O
for	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
that	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
highlight	B-General_Concept
,	O
copy	B-General_Concept
,	O
edit	O
and	O
translate	B-General_Concept
text	O
from	O
within	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
developer	O
Kevin	O
Kwok	O
,	O
and	O
released	O
in	O
April	O
2014	O
as	O
a	O
Chrome	B-Application
add-on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
software	O
was	O
first	O
made	O
available	O
only	O
on	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
,	O
downloadable	O
from	O
the	O
Chrome	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Store	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
then	O
made	O
available	O
on	O
Mozilla	B-Application
Firefox	I-Application
,	O
downloadable	O
from	O
the	O
Mozilla	B-Application
Firefox	I-Application
add-ons	B-Protocol
repository	B-General_Concept
but	O
was	O
soon	O
removed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
web	B-Protocol
browser	I-Protocol
extension	I-Protocol
uses	O
advanced	O
imaging	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
adopting	O
several	O
Optical	B-Application
Character	I-Application
Recognition	I-Application
(	O
OCR	O
)	O
algorithms	O
,	O
including	O
libraries	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
Research	O
and	O
Google	B-Application
,	O
text	O
is	O
automatically	O
identified	O
in	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OCR	O
technology	O
that	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
adopts	O
is	O
a	O
slightly	O
differentiated	O
technology	O
in	O
comparison	O
to	O
the	O
technology	O
used	O
by	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
Google	B-Application
Drive	I-Application
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
OneNote	I-Application
to	O
facilitate	O
and	O
analyse	O
text	O
within	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
also	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
method	O
called	O
Stroke	O
Width	O
Transform	O
(	O
SWT	O
)	O
,	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
Research	O
in	O
2008	O
as	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
text	B-Application
detection	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
process	O
of	O
editing	O
,	O
copying	O
or	O
quoting	O
text	O
inside	O
images	O
was	O
difficult	O
before	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
arrived	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previously	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
way	O
to	O
search	O
or	O
copy	B-General_Concept
a	O
sentence	O
from	O
an	O
image	O
was	O
to	O
manually	O
transcribe	O
the	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2012	O
,	O
Kevin	O
Kwok	O
was	O
reading	O
about	O
seam	B-Algorithm
carving	I-Algorithm
,	O
an	O
algorithm	O
which	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
rescale	O
images	O
without	O
distorting	O
or	O
damaging	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
image	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
particularly	O
verbose	O
comic	O
inspired	O
him	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
software	O
which	O
can	O
read	O
images	O
(	O
with	O
canvas	B-Language
)	O
,	O
figure	O
the	O
positions	O
of	O
the	O
lines	O
and	O
letters	O
,	O
and	O
draw	O
selection	O
overlays	O
to	O
assuage	O
a	O
pervasive	O
text-selection	O
habit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
projected	O
the	O
image	O
onto	O
the	O
side	O
and	O
a	O
vertical	O
pixel	O
image	B-Algorithm
histogram	I-Algorithm
was	O
formed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
significant	O
valleys	O
of	O
the	O
resulting	O
histograms	B-Algorithm
served	O
as	O
a	O
signature	O
for	O
the	O
ends	O
of	O
text	O
lines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
horizontal	O
lines	O
are	O
detected	O
,	O
each	O
lines	O
are	O
automatically	O
cropped	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
histogram	B-Algorithm
process	O
repeats	O
itself	O
until	O
all	O
horizontal	O
lines	O
in	O
the	O
image	O
have	O
been	O
identified	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
the	O
Optical	B-Application
Character	I-Application
Recognition	I-Application
(	O
OCR	O
)	O
can	O
be	O
applied	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
to	O
first	O
identify	O
whether	O
blocks	O
of	O
text	O
exists	O
in	O
an	O
image	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
function	O
provides	O
users	O
with	O
the	O
option	O
to	O
copy	B-General_Concept
,	O
translate	B-General_Concept
and	O
even	O
modify	O
text	O
directly	O
in	O
every	O
image	O
,	O
in	O
real-time	O
and	O
in	O
their	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
feature	O
of	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
is	O
the	O
text	B-Application
detection	I-Application
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Running	O
on	O
an	O
algorithm	O
called	O
the	O
“	O
Stroke	O
Width	O
Transform	O
,	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
Research	O
in	O
2008	O
,	O
it	O
provides	O
the	O
capability	O
of	O
identifying	O
regions	O
of	O
text	O
in	O
a	O
language-agnostic	B-Language
manner	O
and	O
detecting	O
angled	O
text	O
and	O
text	O
in	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
automatically	O
applies	O
state-of-the-art	O
computer	O
vision	O
algorithms	O
on	O
every	O
image	O
available	O
when	O
browsing	O
the	O
web	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
highlight	B-General_Concept
,	O
copy	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
paste	I-General_Concept
,	O
edit	O
and	O
translate	B-General_Concept
text	O
which	O
were	O
formerly	O
trapped	O
within	O
an	O
image	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
technique	O
similar	O
to	O
Photoshop	B-Operating_System
's	O
"	O
Content-Aware	O
Fill	O
"	O
feature	O
called	O
"	O
inpainting	B-Algorithm
”	O
is	O
adopted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
types	O
of	O
algorithms	O
are	O
famously	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Photoshop	I-Operating_System
’s	O
“	O
Content-Aware	O
Fill	O
”	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
seamless	O
and	O
intuitive	O
experience	O
for	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
the	O
extension	B-Application
technique	O
tracks	O
cursor	O
movements	O
and	O
continuously	O
extrapolates	O
a	O
second	O
ahead	O
based	O
on	O
its	O
position	O
and	O
velocity	O
,	O
predicting	O
where	O
highlights	O
might	O
be	O
made	O
over	O
an	O
image	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
software	O
then	O
scans	O
and	O
runs	O
a	O
processor-intensive	O
character	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
algorithms	O
,	O
processing	O
potential	O
text	O
that	O
users	O
might	O
want	O
to	O
pick	O
out	O
from	O
an	O
image	O
,	O
ahead	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
used	O
on	O
a	O
few	O
applications	O
,	O
enabling	O
users	O
to	O
copy	B-General_Concept
texts	O
from	O
any	O
images	O
displayed	O
in	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
comics	O
,	O
photos	O
,	O
screenshots	B-Application
,	O
images	O
with	O
text	O
overlays	O
such	O
as	O
internet	O
memes	O
,	O
animated	O
GIFS	O
,	O
scans	O
,	O
diagrams	O
with	O
labels	O
,	O
and	O
translations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2013	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
prototype	B-Application
for	O
the	O
extension	B-Application
for	O
comics	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
need	O
for	O
an	O
extension	B-Application
for	O
comic	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
comic	O
fonts	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
more	O
casual	O
and	O
informal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Characters	O
are	O
often	O
placed	O
closely	O
together	O
as	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
connected	O
and	O
if	O
one	O
tries	O
to	O
copy	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
paste	I-General_Concept
text	O
from	O
a	O
comic	O
,	O
the	O
copied	O
text	O
will	O
usually	O
appear	O
to	O
be	O
jumbled	O
up	O
and	O
unclear	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
algorithm	O
used	O
by	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
for	O
photos	O
is	O
the	O
Stroke	O
Width	O
Transform	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
specially	O
designed	O
for	O
detecting	O
text	O
in	O
natural	O
scenes	O
and	O
photographs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
because	O
photographs	O
are	O
generally	O
tougher	O
and	O
more	O
technically	O
challenging	O
to	O
copy	B-General_Concept
texts	O
from	O
as	O
compared	O
to	O
most	O
regular	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
Screenshots	B-Application
,	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
transforms	O
static	O
screenshots	B-Application
into	O
something	O
more	O
similar	O
to	O
an	O
interactive	O
snapshot	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
as	O
it	O
was	O
when	O
the	O
screen	O
was	O
captured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
allows	O
one	O
to	O
erase	O
and	O
edit	O
texts	O
on	O
an	O
image	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
translation	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
translation	O
technology	O
essentially	O
makes	O
use	O
of	O
“	O
Inpainting	B-Algorithm
”	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Translate	B-General_Concept
menu	O
includes	O
the	O
capability	O
to	O
translate	B-General_Concept
in-image	O
text	O
to	O
many	O
other	O
different	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
English	O
,	O
Spanish	O
,	O
Russian	O
,	O
French	O
,	O
Chinese	O
Simplified	O
,	O
Chinese	O
Traditional	O
,	O
Japanese	O
,	O
or	O
German	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
few	O
technical	O
difficulties	O
that	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
still	O
faces	O
despite	O
the	O
constant	O
improvements	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language-agnostic	B-Language
nature	O
of	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
's	O
underlying	O
Stroke	O
Width	O
Transform	O
algorithm	O
allows	O
it	O
detect	O
the	O
little	O
squiggles	O
as	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
an	O
improvement	O
feature	O
,	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
started	O
work	O
on	O
it	O
and	O
enabling	O
it	O
to	O
support	O
rotated	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
techniques	O
that	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
inpainting	B-Algorithm
,	O
present	O
loopholes	O
to	O
it	O
is	O
that	O
images	O
may	O
hardly	O
be	O
a	O
substitute	O
for	O
the	O
original	O
and	O
can	O
leave	O
marks	O
of	O
it	O
being	O
edited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
understood	O
that	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
are	O
doing	O
their	O
best	O
in	O
attempting	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
processing	O
on	O
the	O
client	O
side	O
(	O
i.e.	O
,	O
within	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
default	B-General_Concept
setting	O
which	O
helps	O
to	O
strike	O
a	O
delicate	O
balance	O
between	O
having	O
all	O
the	O
functionality	O
made	O
available	O
and	O
respecting	O
user	O
privacy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	B-General_Concept
,	O
when	O
users	O
begin	O
selecting	O
a	O
text	O
,	O
a	O
secure	O
HTTPS	B-Protocol
request	O
is	O
sent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
only	O
contains	O
the	O
URL	O
of	O
the	O
specific	O
image	O
and	O
nothing	O
else	O
–	O
no	O
User	O
Tokens	O
,	O
no	O
Website	O
Information	O
,	O
no	O
Cookies	B-Application
or	O
analytics	O
and	O
the	O
requests	O
are	O
not	O
logged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
preference	O
of	O
the	O
users	O
,	O
this	O
default	B-General_Concept
function	O
can	O
be	O
disabled	O
by	O
checking	O
on	O
the	O
“	O
Disable	O
Lookup	O
”	O
item	O
under	O
the	O
Options	O
Menu	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
installed	O
,	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
requires	O
the	O
permissions	O
and	O
sweeping	O
access	O
to	O
user	O
's	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
another	O
hand	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
user	O
does	O
not	O
want	O
to	O
allow	O
access	O
for	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
to	O
all	O
images	O
on	O
all	O
sides	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
also	O
disable	O
this	O
function	O
under	O
the	O
installation	O
dialog	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
case	O
,	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
will	O
be	O
operating	O
at	O
a	O
very	O
low	O
level	O
of	O
access	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
ideally	O
the	O
kind	O
of	O
functionality	O
that	O
gets	O
built	O
into	O
browsers	B-Application
and	O
operating	O
systems	O
natively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
extension	B-Application
is	O
almost	O
entirely	O
written	O
in	O
client	O
side	O
JavaScript	B-Language
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
extension	B-Application
to	O
function	O
without	O
an	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
remote	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
online	O
OCR	O
services	O
has	O
per-user	O
metering	O
,	O
hence	O
requires	O
a	O
unique	B-Protocol
identifier	I-Protocol
token	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
this	O
experimental	O
extension	B-Application
,	O
the	O
software	O
aims	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
search	O
for	O
texts	O
inside	O
images	O
on	O
a	O
current	O
page	O
,	O
serving	O
as	O
a	O
great	O
feature	O
for	O
all	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
has	O
also	O
been	O
looking	O
at	O
different	O
ways	O
to	O
improve	O
on	O
its	O
limitations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
will	O
aim	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
quality	O
in	O
its	O
future	O
versions	O
by	O
using	O
better-trained	O
models	O
and	O
algorithms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
the	O
techniques	O
of	O
inpainting	B-Algorithm
may	O
leave	O
marks	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
image	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
obvious	O
that	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
edited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
inpainted	B-Algorithm
reads	O
fonts	O
in	O
this	O
manner	O
-	O
if	O
uppercase	O
and	O
super	O
bold	O
,	O
then	O
Impact	O
font	O
,	O
if	O
uppercase	O
otherwise	O
then	O
XKCD	O
font	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
everything	O
else	O
,	O
Helvetica	O
Neue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
acknowledged	O
by	O
Kwok	O
,	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
still	O
has	O
to	O
improve	O
on	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
reason	O
is	O
because	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
its	O
various	O
subcomponents	O
and	O
algorithms	O
,	O
Project	B-Operating_System
Naptha	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
few	O
years	O
behind	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
the	O
art	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
he	O
firmly	O
believes	O
that	O
over	O
time	O
,	O
text	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
,	O
translation	O
and	O
deletion	O
can	O
all	O
be	O
developed	O
further	O
and	O
this	O
immense	O
potential	O
is	O
definitely	O
one	O
that	O
will	O
be	O
exciting	O
.	O
</s>
