Method and device for processing and for searching for an object by signals corresponding to images

• US 7,430,338 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2007
• Issued: 09/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Bober, Miroslaw Z.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mariam; Daniel G
• Application Number:
  US11/822,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20070258659A1
• Time in Patent Office: 448 Days
• Field of Search: 382/103, 382/181, 382/190, 382/199, 382/201, 382/203, 382/305, 382/276, 358/403, 707 1- 10
• US Class Current: 382/276
• 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 the peak values in CSS space for the object outline and applying a non-linear transformation to said peak values to arrive at a representation of the outline.

Claims

1. A method of representing an object appearing in an image or a sequence of images, by processing signals corresponding to the image, the method comprising deriving a plurality of pairs of co-ordinate values for peaks of the outline of the object in curvature scale space on the basis of the signals and applying a transformation to said co-ordinate values to arrive at a representation of the outline,

wherein said transformation is in the form of y′

=a pow (y,b)+c, where a, b and c are constants and pow (y,b) denotes y to the power b, where y represents one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values, and y′

represents said one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values after said transformation is applied.

2. A method for 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 any one of claim 1, obtaining a descriptor of objects in stored images derived using a method as claimed in any proceeding claim 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 comprising:

An image database storing an image or a sequence of images;

a descriptor database storing descriptors of objects or parts of objects appearing in images or sequences of images stored in the image database; and

a control unit configured to perform the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.

4. A computer system comprising:

An image database storing an image or a sequence of images;

a descriptor database storing descriptors of objects or parts of objects appearing in images or sequences of images stored in the image database; and

a control unit programmed to perform the method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.

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

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values corresponds to the height of said peaks.

7. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer executable program for generating an image or a sequence of images, the computer executable program when executed causes a computer system to implement:

a derivation of a plurality of pairs of co-ordinate values for peaks of the outline of the object in curvature scale space on the basis of the signals; and

applying a transformation to said co-ordinate values to arrive at a representation of the outline, wherein said transformation is in the form of y′

=a pow (y,b)+c, where a, b and c are constants and pow (y,b) denotes y to the power b, where y represents one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values, and y′

represents said one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values after said transformation is applied.

8. A computer system programmed to generate an object appearing in an image or a sequence of images, by processing signals corresponding to the images the computer system including a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer executable program comprising:

a derivation of a plurality of pairs of co-ordinate values for peaks of the outline of the object in curvature scale space on the basis of the signals; and

applying a transformation to said co-ordinate values to arrive at a representation of the outline, wherein said transformation is in the form of y′

=a pow (y,b)+c, where a, b and c are constants and pow (y,b) denotes y to the power b, where y represents one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values, and y′

represents said one co-ordinate value of the pairs of co-ordinate values after said transformation is applied.