Writer verification using feature selection based on genetic algorithm: A case study on handwritten Bangla dataset

Abstract Author verification is challenging because of the diversity in writing styles. We propose an enhanced handwriting verification method that combines handcrafted and automatically extracted features. The method uses a genetic algorithm to reduce the dimensionality of the feature set. We consider offline Bangla handwriting content and evaluate the proposed method using handcrafted features with a simple logistic regression, radial basis function network, and sequential minimal optimization as well as automatically extracted features using a convolutional neural network. The handcrafted features outperform the automatically extracted ones, achieving an average verification accuracy of 94.54% for 100 writers. The handcrafted features include Radon transform, histogram of oriented gradients, local phase quantization, and local binary patterns from interwriter and intrawriter content. The genetic algorithm reduces the feature dimensionality and selects salient features using a support vector machine. The top five experimental results are obtained from the optimal feature set selected using a consensus strategy. Comparisons with other methods and features confirm the satisfactory results.