Looking Beyond Region Boundaries:
Region-Based Image Retrieval Using Fuzzy Feature Matching

Yixin Chen, James Z. Wang
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801
Abstract:

For a region-based image retrieval system, performance depends critically on the accuracy of object segmentation. We propose a soft computing approach, unified feature matching (UFM), which greatly increases the robustness of the retrieval system against segmentation related uncertainties. In our retrieval system, an image is represented by a set of segmented regions each of which is characterized by a fuzzy feature (fuzzy set) reflecting color, texture, and shape properties. The resemblance between two images is then defined as the overall similarity between two families of fuzzy features, and quantified by a similarity measure, UFM measure. The system has been tested on a database of about 60,000 general-purpose images. Experiment results demonstrate improved accuracy, robustness, and high speed.


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Last Modified: July 28 2001
© 2001