Statistically based image group descriptor particularly suited for use in an image classification and retrieval system
First Claim
1. Apparatus for generating a semantically based, linguistically searchable, numeric descriptor of a pre-defined group of input images, the apparatus comprising:
- a database having image information stored therein;
a signature generator, responsive to each one of a set of input images, for producing a corresponding signature for each one of said images so as to form a plurality of signatures, each of the signatures having a plurality of elements and storing, in a corresponding one of the elements, a numeric value of each one of a plurality of different pre-defined visual characteristics of a corresponding one of the input images;
a statistics generator, responsive to all of said signatures, for generating a value of a variance and a value of an average of each corresponding element taken across all the signatures and storing the variance and average values in a corresponding element in average and variance vectors, respectively, so as to define a statistical measure, wherein said statistical measure describes, with respect to the pre-defined characteristics, all the images taken collectively; and
a database manager for associating a linguistic term, to identify said set of images, with said statistical measure, and for storing said measure and said term collectively in the database in such a manner that a textual search through the database and on the term will return said statistical measure.
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Abstract
Apparatus and an accompanying method for generating a semantically based, linguistically searchable, numeric descriptor of a pre-defined group of input images and which is particularly useful in a system for automatically classifying individual images, on a numerical basis, in, e.g., an image database, and, through a query-by-example paradigm, retrieving a desired image(s) therefrom. Specifically, a signature is computed for each image in a set using multi-level iterative convolution filtering, with pixel values supplied as input to each filtering level being separately convolved with each one of a set of predefined Gaussian kernels. Average and variance vectors, as collective numeric descriptors of all the images in the set, are separately computed across corresponding elements in all the image signatures for the set. A linguistic term, semantically descriptive of all the images in the set, is associated with the numeric descriptors of this set and, with this set, is stored in a database. For image retrieval, the descriptor for any set is accessed by a textual search through the database using the appropriate linguistic term. The descriptor is then compared against accessed signatures for other images in the database in order to retrieve a image, among those stored in the database, that is the most similar to those in the set associated with the descriptor.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. Apparatus for generating a semantically based, linguistically searchable, numeric descriptor of a pre-defined group of input images, the apparatus comprising:
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a database having image information stored therein; a signature generator, responsive to each one of a set of input images, for producing a corresponding signature for each one of said images so as to form a plurality of signatures, each of the signatures having a plurality of elements and storing, in a corresponding one of the elements, a numeric value of each one of a plurality of different pre-defined visual characteristics of a corresponding one of the input images; a statistics generator, responsive to all of said signatures, for generating a value of a variance and a value of an average of each corresponding element taken across all the signatures and storing the variance and average values in a corresponding element in average and variance vectors, respectively, so as to define a statistical measure, wherein said statistical measure describes, with respect to the pre-defined characteristics, all the images taken collectively; and a database manager for associating a linguistic term, to identify said set of images, with said statistical measure, and for storing said measure and said term collectively in the database in such a manner that a textual search through the database and on the term will return said statistical measure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system, responsive to a term chosen by a user, for retrieving, from a stored database, a desired image that is visually similar to images in a set associated with the term, wherein the system utilizes a semantically based, linguistically searchable, numeric descriptor of a pre-defined group of images, the system comprising:
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a database having image information stored therein; a signature generator, responsive to each one of a set of input images, for producing a corresponding signature for each one of said images so as to form a plurality of signatures, each of the signatures having a plurality of elements and storing, in a corresponding one of the elements, a numeric value of each one of a plurality of different pre-defined visual characteristics of a corresponding one of the input images; a statistics generator, responsive to all of said signatures, for generating a value of a variance and a value of an average of each corresponding element taken across all the signatures and storing the variance and average values in a corresponding element in average and variance vectors, respectively, so as to define a statistical measure, wherein said statistical measure describes, with respect to the pre-defined characteristics, all the images taken collectively; and a database manager for associating a linguistic term, to identify said set of images, with said statistical measure, and for storing said measure and said term collectively in the database in such a manner that a textual search through the database and on the term will return said statistical measure. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for generating a semantically based, linguistically searchable, numeric descriptor of a pre-defined group of input images, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing, in response to each one of a set of input images, a corresponding signature for each one of said images so as to form a plurality of signatures, each of the signatures having a plurality of elements and storing, in a corresponding one of the elements, a numeric value of each one of a plurality of different pre-defined visual characteristics of a corresponding one of the input images; generating, in response to all of said signatures, a value of a variance and a value of an average of each corresponding element taken across all the signatures and storing the variance and average values in a corresponding element in average and variance vectors, respectively, so as to define a statistical measure, wherein said statistical measure describes, with respect to the pre-defined characteristics, all the images taken collectively; and associating a linguistic term, to identify said set of images, with said statistical measure; and storing said measure and said term collectively in a database in such a manner that a textual search through the database and on the term will return said statistical measure. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method, responsive to a term chosen by a user, for retrieving, from a stored database, a desired image that is visually similar to images in a set associated with the term, wherein the method utilizes a semantically based, linguistically searchable, numeric descriptor of a pre-defined group of images, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing, in response to each one of a set of input images, for producing a corresponding signature for each one of said images so as to form a plurality of signatures, each of the signatures having a plurality of elements and storing, in a corresponding one of the elements, a numeric value of each one of a plurality of different pre-defined visual characteristics of a corresponding one of the input images; generating, in response to all of said signatures, a value of a variance and a value of an average of each corresponding element taken across all the signatures and storing the variance and average values in a corresponding element in average and variance vectors, respectively, so as to define a statistical measure, wherein said statistical measure describes, with respect to the pre-defined characteristics, all the images taken collectively; and associating a linguistic term, to identify said set of images, with said statistical measure; and storing said measure and said term collectively in a database in such a manner that a textual search through the database and on the term will return said statistical measure. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification