METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING A PICTORIAL REFERENCE DATABASE USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
First Claim
1. Computer-implemented method of generating a pictorial reference database (10) from a plurality of digital images, the method comprising:
- defining (S1) a plurality of distributed geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64);
selecting (S2), for at least one of the geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64), from the plurality of digital images, selected images with a geo-tag located in the respective geographic sub-area (60, 61, 62, 63, 64);
generating (S31), for the selected images, feature vectors for localized visual features of the selected images;
determining (S32), for pairs of the selected images, matching features based on the feature vectors;
computing (S33), for pairs of the selected images having matching features, in each case, a measure of visual similarity based on different geometric arrangements of the localized visual features;
determining (S5) dusters of images with matching objects based on the measures of visual similarity; and
storing (S6) the clusters of images in the pictorial reference database (10).
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Abstract
For generating a pictorial reference database from a plurality of digital images, distributed geographical sub-areas are defined (S1). For the geographical sub-areas, selected (S2) from the plurality of digital images are images with a geo-tag located in the respective geographic sub-area. Feature vectors are generated (S31) for localized visual features of the selected images. Based on the feature vectors, matching features are determined (S32) for pairs of the selected images. For pairs with matching features, in each case, a measure of visual similarity is computed (S33) based on different geometric arrangements of the localized visual features. Based on the visual similarity, clusters of images with matching objects are determined (S5) and stored (S6) in the pictorial reference database. The pictorial reference database can be generated automatically from a huge collection of images by dividing the images into geographical subsets which can be processed individually and possibly in parallel.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. Computer-implemented method of generating a pictorial reference database (10) from a plurality of digital images, the method comprising:
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defining (S1) a plurality of distributed geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64); selecting (S2), for at least one of the geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64), from the plurality of digital images, selected images with a geo-tag located in the respective geographic sub-area (60, 61, 62, 63, 64); generating (S31), for the selected images, feature vectors for localized visual features of the selected images; determining (S32), for pairs of the selected images, matching features based on the feature vectors; computing (S33), for pairs of the selected images having matching features, in each case, a measure of visual similarity based on different geometric arrangements of the localized visual features; determining (S5) dusters of images with matching objects based on the measures of visual similarity; and storing (S6) the clusters of images in the pictorial reference database (10). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer system (1) for generating a pictorial reference database (10) from a plurality of digital images, the system (1) comprising:
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a stored definition (11) of a plurality of distributed geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64); a selecting module (12) configured to select, for at least one of the geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64), from the plurality of digital images, selected images with a geo-tag located in the respective geographic sub-area (60, 51, 62, 63, 64); an image matching module (13) configured to generate, for the selected images, feature vectors for localized visual features of the selected images, to determine, for pairs of the selected images, matching features based on the feature vectors, and to compute, for pairs of the selected images having matching features, in each case, a measure of visual similarity based on different geometric arrangements of the localized visual features; and a clustering module (S14) configured to determine clusters of images with matching objects based on the measures of visual similarity, and to store the clusters of images in the pictorial reference database. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computer program product comprising computer program code means for controlling one or more processors of a computer system (1) such that the computer system (1)
defines (S1) a plurality of distributed geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64); -
selects (S2), for at least one of the geographical sub-areas (60, 61, 62, 63, 64), from a plurality of digital images, selected images with a geo-tag located in the respective geographic sub-area (60, 61, 62, 63, 64); generates (S31), for the selected images, feature vectors for localized visual features of the selected images; determines (S32), for pairs of the selected images, matching features based on the feature vectors; computes (S33), for pairs of the selected images having matching features, in each case, a measure of visual similarity based on different geometric arrangements of the localized visual features; determines (S5) clusters of images with matching objects based on the measures of visual similarity; and stores (S6) the clusters of images in a pictorial reference database (10).
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Specification