METHOD, APPARATUS, COMPUTER PROGRAM, COMPUTER SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM FOR REPRESENTING AND SEARCHING FOR AN OBJECT IN AN IMAGE

• US 20080065610A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Miroslaw Bober
• Inventors: Bober, Miroslaw
• Granted Patent: US 7,505,637 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/46 Descriptors for shape, contour or point-related descriptors, e.g. scale invariant feature transform [SIFT] or bags of words [BoW]; Salient regional features colour feature extraction G06V10/56
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/752 Contour matching

Abstract

A method of representing an object appearing in a still or video image, by processing signals corresponding to the image, comprises deriving a plurality of numerical values associated with features appearing on the outline of an object starting from an arbitrary point on the outline and applying a predetermined ordering to said values to arrive at a representative of the outline.

Claims

1. A method for representing an object appearing in an image, comprising:

identifying at least one object outline;

determining a curvature scale space representation for said outline to generate peak coordinates for the outline curvature scale space representation, wherein said peak coordinates are determined using a plural stage filter that produces derivative curves representative of said outline by convolving said object outline; and

ordering said peak coordinates, by selecting highest peak value and associated highest peak coordinates and ordering remaining peak coordinates in decreasing peak height, to generate a shape descriptor for said outline.

2. A method of searching for an object in an image or sequence of images by processing signals corresponding to images, the method comprising inputting a query in the form of a two-dimensional outline, deriving a descriptor of said outline using a method as claimed in claim 1, obtaining a descriptor of objects in stored images derived using a method as claimed in claim 1 and comparing said query descriptor with each descriptor for a stored object, and selecting and displaying at least one result corresponding to an image containing an object for which the comparison indicates a degree of similarity between the query and said object.

3. An apparatus adapted to implement a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.

4. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable process steps for implementing a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.

5. A computer system programmed to operate according to a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.