Normalized bitmap representation of visual object's shape for search/query/filtering applications
First Claim
1. A method of generating a normalized bitmap representation of the shape of a visual object in an image comprising the steps of:
- segmenting the image to generate a segmentation map of visual objects;
identifying samples from the segmentation map belonging to a visual object of interest;
identifying the largest connected blob to form an un-normalized bitmap; and
normalizing the un-normalized bitmap to form a normalized bitmap representation, wherein said normalizing step additionally comprises the steps of;
estimating a mean and covariance for each valid sample in the un-normalized bitmap;
computing a principal direction for the un-normalized bitmap based upon the mean and covariance as eigenvectors of a covariance matrix; and
back projecting the un-normalized bitmap as a function of the mean and eigenvectors to normalize the un-normalized bitmap for translation, rotation and scale so that after normalization the normalized bitmap representation has a standard height and is oriented such that the principal direction is along a vertical direction.
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Abstract
A method of generating normalized bitmap representation for the shape of a visual object for use in search/query/filtering applications segments an image into visual objects. The samples belonging to a visual object of interest are identified. The identified samples that form the largest connected blob are reduced to an un-normalized bitmap. The un-normalized bitmap is then normalized using the mean and covariance of the valid samples to generate the normalized bitmap representation having a standard height and having an orientation such that a principal direction is along a vertical direction. The normalized bitmap representation may be used with a query to search a database of images where the visual objects all have associated normalized bitmap representations. The query bitmap is normalized and matched to each normalized bitmap representation. The visual objects having the lowest mismatch values of their normalized bitmap representation with the query bitmap are identified as the objects of the search.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A method of generating a normalized bitmap representation of the shape of a visual object in an image comprising the steps of:
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segmenting the image to generate a segmentation map of visual objects;
identifying samples from the segmentation map belonging to a visual object of interest;
identifying the largest connected blob to form an un-normalized bitmap; and
normalizing the un-normalized bitmap to form a normalized bitmap representation, wherein said normalizing step additionally comprises the steps of;
estimating a mean and covariance for each valid sample in the un-normalized bitmap;
computing a principal direction for the un-normalized bitmap based upon the mean and covariance as eigenvectors of a covariance matrix; and
back projecting the un-normalized bitmap as a function of the mean and eigenvectors to normalize the un-normalized bitmap for translation, rotation and scale so that after normalization the normalized bitmap representation has a standard height and is oriented such that the principal direction is along a vertical direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification