16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the sub-step of performing character segmentation on the segmented words includes the sub-steps of: performing pre-processing on the segmented characters; computing a background skeleton; computing the skeletal graph from the background skeleton; removing curves and short branches from the skeletal graph; connecting each branch corresponding to an end-point of a downward branch that goes below a baseline of the image to a nearest point in the skeletal graph that is below the baseline of the image; connecting each branch corresponding to an end-point of an upward branch that goes above the baseline of the image to a nearest point in the skeletal graph that is above the baseline of the image; removing all remaining branches of the skeletal graph; providing the segmented characters.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the sub-step performing pre-processing on the segmented characters is performed using an input perturbation and classifier combination algorithm.