Automatic Annotation and Retrieval of Images

Although a variety of techniques have been developed for content-based image retrieval (CBIR), automatic image retrieval by semantics still remains a challenging problem. We propose a novel approach for semantics-based image annotation and retrieval. Our approach is based on the monotonic tree model. The branches of the monotonic tree of an image, termed as structural elements, are classified and clustered based on their low level features such as color, spatial location, coarseness, and shape. Each cluster corresponds to some semantic feature. The category keywords indicating the semantic features are automatically annotated to the images. Based on the semantic features extracted from images, high-level (semantics-based) querying and browsing of images can be achieved. We apply our scheme to analyze scenery features. Experiments show that semantic features, such as sky, building, trees, water wave, placid water, and ground, can be effectively retrieved and located in images.     

一种具有相关反馈的图像检索方法

图像底层特征和高层语义之间存在着巨大的语义鸿沟.受限于图像理解技术的发展水平和对认知的理解水平.目前,对图像语义的描述还无法由计算机自动建立.要克服语义鸿沟,需引入相关反馈机制.特征提取采用结合空间信息的颜色一致直方图方法,并建立了基于方差分析的权值调整方法进行反馈调节,有效地提高了图像检索准确率.     

A survey of content-based image retrieval with high-level semantics

In order to improve the retrieval accuracy of content-based image retrieval systems, research focus has been shifted from designing sophisticated low-level feature extraction algorithms to reducing the ‘semantic gap’ between the visual features and the richness of human semantics. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive survey of the recent technical achievements in high-level semantic-based image retrieval. Major recent publications are included in this survey covering different aspects of the research in this area, including low-level image feature extraction, similarity measurement, and deriving high-level semantic features. We identify five major categories of the state-of-the-art techniques in narrowing down the ‘semantic gap’: (1) using object ontology to define high-level concepts; (2) using machine learning methods to associate low-level features with query concepts; (3) using relevance feedback to learn users’ intention; (4) generating semantic template to support high-level image retrieval; (5) fusing the evidences from HTML text and the visual content of images for WWW image retrieval. In addition, some other related issues such as image test bed and retrieval performance evaluation are also discussed. Finally, based on existing technology and the demand from real-world applications, a few promising future research directions are suggested.     

Integrating symbolic images into a multimedia database system using classification and abstraction approaches

Symbolic images are composed of a finite set of symbols that have a semantic meaning. Examples of symbolic images include maps (where the semantic meaning of the symbols is given in the legend), engineering drawings, and floor plans. Two approaches for supporting queries on symbolic-image databases that are based on image content are studied. The classification approach preprocesses all symbolic images and attaches a semantic classification and an associated certainty factor to each object that it finds in the image. The abstraction approach describes each object in the symbolic image by using a vector consisting of the values of some of its features (e.g., shape, genus, etc.). The approaches differ in the way in which responses to queries are computed. In the classification approach, images are retrieved on the basis of whether or not they contain objects that have the same classification as the objects in the query. On the other hand, in the abstraction approach, retrieval is on the basis of similarity of feature vector values of these objects. Methods of integrating these two approaches into a relational multimedia database management system so that symbolic images can be stored and retrieved based on their content are described. Schema definitions and indices that support query specifications involving spatial as well as contextual constraints are presented. Spatial constraints may be based on both locational information (e.g., distance) and relational information (e.g., north of). Different strategies for image retrieval for a number of typical queries using these approaches are described. Estimated costs are derived for these strategies. Results are reported of a comparative study of the two approaches in terms of image insertion time, storage space, retrieval accuracy, and retrieval time. Received June 12, 1998 / Accepted October 13, 1998     

基于模糊支持向量机的面向语义图像检索算法*

为了缩减图像低层特征和高层语义之间的“语义鸿沟”,本文提出一种基于模糊支持向量机的面向语义图像检索(SBIR-FSVM)算法。在提取图像的低层特征的基础上,本文将最小隶属度模糊支持向量机引入到图像检索技术中,获取图像语义信息及消除传统支持向量机(SVM)在多类分类中产生的不可分区域,从而实现面向语义的图像检索。实验结果表明,本文提出的SBIR-FSVM算法与基于SVM的图像检索算法及综合多特征的基于内容的图像检索算法相比均有了显著的改进。     

Region-based image retrieval with high-level semantics using decision tree learning

Semantic-based image retrieval has attracted great interest in recent years. This paper proposes a region-based image retrieval system with high-level semantic learning. The key features of the system are: (1) it supports both query by keyword and query by region of interest. The system segments an image into different regions and extracts low-level features of each region. From these features, high-level concepts are obtained using a proposed decision tree-based learning algorithm named DT-ST. During retrieval, a set of images whose semantic concept matches the query is returned. Experiments on a standard real-world image database confirm that the proposed system significantly improves the retrieval performance, compared with a conventional content-based image retrieval system. (2) The proposed decision tree induction method DT-ST for image semantic learning is different from other decision tree induction algorithms in that it makes use of the semantic templates to discretize continuous-valued region features and avoids the difficult image feature discretization problem. Furthermore, it introduces a hybrid tree simplification method to handle the noise and tree fragmentation problems, thereby improving the classification performance of the tree. Experimental results indicate that DT-ST outperforms two well-established decision tree induction algorithms ID3 and C4.5 in image semantic learning.     

基于语义测度的图像相似性计算研究

针对图像检索中的低层视觉特征相似性度量问题,提出一种基于语义测度的图像相似性计算方法。该方法在图像区域分割的基础上,通过构建图像区域子块与语义元数据之间的统计映射关系,实现图像内容的统计语义描述,建立图像之间、图像与语义类别、语义类别之间的分层语义相似测度。通过对自然图像库的实验结果表明,该方法在相似图像检索中具有更好的性能。     

Image retrieval by color semantics

The development of a system supporting querying of image databases by color content tackles a major design choice about properties of colors which are referenced within user queries. On the one hand, low-level properties directly reflect numerical features and concepts tied to the machine representation of color information. On the other hand, high-level properties address concepts such as the perceptual quality of colors and the sensations that they convey. Color-induced sensations include warmth, accordance or contrast, harmony, excitement, depression, anguish, etc. In other words, they refer to the semantics of color usage. In particular, paintings are an example where the message is contained more in the high-level color qualities and spatial arrangements than in the physical properties of colors. Starting from this observation, Johannes Itten introduced a formalism to analyze the use of color in art and the effects that this induces on the user's psyche. In this paper, we present a system which translates the Itten theory into a formal language that expresses the semantics associated with the combination of chromatic properties of color images. The system exploits a competitive learning technique to segment images into regions with homogeneous colors. Fuzzy sets are used to represent low-level region properties such as hue, saturation, luminance, warmth, size and position. A formal language and a set of model-checking rules are implemented to define semantic clauses and verify the degree of truth by which they hold over an image.     

Exploring statistical correlations for image retrieval

Bridging the cognitive gap in image retrieval has been an active research direction in recent years, of which a key challenge is to get enough training data to learn the mapping functions from low-level feature spaces to high-level semantics. In this paper, image regions are classified into two types: key regions representing the main semantic contents and environmental regions representing the contexts. We attempt to leverage the correlations between types of regions to improve the performance of image retrieval. A Context Expansion approach is explored to take advantages of such correlations by expanding the key regions of the queries using highly correlated environmental regions according to an image thesaurus. The thesaurus serves as both a mapping function between image low-level features and concepts and a store of the statistical correlations between different concepts. It is constructed through a data-driven approach which uses Web data (images, their surrounding textual annotations) as training data source to learn the region concepts and to explore the statistical correlations. Experimental results on a database of 10,000 general-purpose images show the effectiveness of our proposed approach in both improving search precision (i.e. filter irrelevant images) and recall (i.e. retrieval relevant images whose context may be varied). Several major factors which have impact on the performance of our approach are also studied.     

Yoda,an adaptive soft classification model: content-based similarity queries and beyond

Abstract. Providing a customized result set based upon a user preference is the ultimate objective of many content-based image retrieval systems. There are two main challenges in meeting this objective: First, there is a gap between the physical characteristics of digital images and the semantic meaning of the images. Secondly, different people may have different perceptions on the same set of images. To address both these challenges, we propose a model, named Yoda, that conceptualizes content-based querying as the task of soft classifying images into classes. These classes can overlap, and their members are different for different users. The “soft” classification is hence performed for each and every image feature, including both physical and semantic features. Subsequently, each image will be ranked based on the weighted aggregation of its classification memberships. The weights are user-dependent, and hence different users would obtain different result sets for the same query. Yoda employs a fuzzy-logic based aggregation function for ranking images. We show that, in addition to some performance benefits, fuzzy aggregation is less sensitive to noise and can support disjunctive queries as compared to weighted-average aggregation used by other content-based image retrieval systems. Finally, since Yoda heavily relies on user-dependent weights (i.e., user profiles) for the aggregation task, we utilize the users' relevance feedback to improve the profiles using genetic algorithms (GA). Our learning mechanism requires fewer user interactions, and results in a faster convergence to the user's preferences as compared to other learning techniques. Correspondence to: Y.-S. Chen (E-mail: yishinc@usc.edu) This research has been funded in part by NSF grants EEC-9529152 (IMSC ERC) and IIS-0082826, NIH-NLM R01-LM07061, DARPA and USAF under agreement nr. F30602-99-1-0524, and unrestricted cash gifts from NCR, Microsoft, and Okawa Foundation.     

SVM用于基于内容的自然图像分类和检索

在传统的基于内容图像检索的方法中，由于图像的领域较宽，图像的低级视觉特征和高级概念之间存在着较大的语义间隔，导致检索效果不佳．该文认为更有现实意义的做法是，缩窄图像的领域以减小低级特征和高级概念间的语义间隔，并利用机器学习方法自动建立图像类的模型，从而提供用户概念化的图像查询方式．该文以自然图像领域为例，使用支持向量机(SVM)学习自然图像的类别，学习到的模型用于自然图像分类和检索．实验结果表明作者的方法是可行的．     

轮胎花纹图像检索技术综述

轮胎花纹图像检索在交通事故处理及刑事案件侦破中是获取破案信息的重要手段,虽然基于内容的图像检索技术已发展数十年,但由于轮胎花纹图像数据的来源及应用场景特殊等因素,目前这方面的研究文献并不多。在研究近年来轮胎花纹图像检索领域相关文献的基础上,对该领域的技术现状进行总结分析。首先,围绕轮胎花纹纹理特征提取和高层语义特征提取两项关键技术描述了该领域的主要研究成果,并总结了轮胎花纹数据库以及检索性能评价指标。然后,分别针对轮胎花纹低层特征和高层特征提取进行实验对比并分析结果。最后,结合现有技术及实际应用需求,分析了该领域的技术发展趋势并指出了未来的研究方向。     

基于目标区域的语义图像检索

提出了一种基于高层语义的图像检索方法,该方法首先将图像分割成区域,提取每个区域的颜色、形状、位置特征,然后使用这些特征对图像对象进行聚类,得到每幅图像的语义特征向量;采用模糊C均值算法对图像进行聚类,在图像检索时,查询图像和聚类中心比较,然后在距离最小的类中进行检索。实验表明,提出的方法可以明显提高检索效率,缩小低层特征和高层语义之间的“语义鸿沟”。     

Relevance Feedback and Learning in Content-Based Image Search

A major bottleneck in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems or search engines is the large gap between low-level image features used to index images and high-level semantic contents of images. One solution to this bottleneck is to apply relevance feedback to refine the query or similarity measures in image search process. In this paper, we first address the key issues involved in relevance feedback of CBIR systems and present a brief overview of a set of commonly used relevance feedback algorithms. Almost all of the previously proposed methods fall well into such framework. We present a framework of relevance feedback and semantic learning in CBIR. In this framework, low-level features and keyword annotations are integrated in image retrieval and in feedback processes to improve the retrieval performance. We have also extended framework to a content-based web image search engine in which hosting web pages are used to collect relevant annotations for images and users' feedback logs are used to refine annotations. A prototype system has developed to evaluate our proposed schemes, and our experimental results indicated that our approach outperforms traditional CBIR system and relevance feedback approaches.     

Fast image retrieval using color-spatial information

In this paper, we present an image retrieval system that employs both the color and spatial information of images to facilitate the retrieval process. The basic unit used in our technique is a single-colored cluster, which bounds a homogeneous region of that color in an image. Two clusters from two images are similar if they are of the same color and overlap in the image space. The number of clusters that can be extracted from an image can be very large, and it affects the accuracy of retrieval. We study the effect of the number of clusters on retrieval effectiveness to determine an appropriate value for “optimal' performance. To facilitate efficient retrieval, we also propose a multi-tier indexing mechanism called the Sequenced Multi-Attribute Tree (SMAT). We implemented a two-tier SMAT, where the first layer is used to prune away clusters that are of different colors, while the second layer discriminates clusters of different spatial locality. We conducted an experimental study on an image database consisting of 12,000 images. Our results show the effectiveness of the proposed color-spatial approach, and the efficiency of the proposed indexing mechanism. Received August 1, 1997 / Accepted December 9, 1997     

图像检索中的动态相似性度量方法

为提高图像检索的效率,近年来相关反馈机制被引入到了基于内容的图像检索领域。该文提出了一种新的相关反馈方法－－动态相似性度量方法。该方法建立在目前被广泛采用的图像相拟性度量方法的基础上,结合了相关反馈图像检索系统的时序特性,通过捕获用户的交互信息,动态地修正图像的相似性度量公式,从而把用户模型嵌入到了图像检索系统,在某种程度上使图像检索结果与人的主观感知更加接近。实验结果表明该方法的性能明显优于其它图像检索系统所采用的方法。     

Classification of document pages using structure-based features

Searching for documents by their type or genre is a natural way to enhance the effectiveness of document retrieval. The layout of a document contains a significant amount of information that can be used to classify it by type in the absence of domain-specific models. Our approach to classification is based on “visual similarity” of layout structure and is implemented by building a supervised classifier, given examples of each class. We use image features such as percentages of text and non-text (graphics, images, tables, and rulings) content regions, column structures, relative point sizes of fonts, density of content area, and statistics of features of connected components which can be derived without class knowledge. In order to obtain class labels for training samples, we conducted a study where subjects ranked document pages with respect to their resemblance to representative page images. Class labels can also be assigned based on known document types, or can be defined by the user. We implemented our classification scheme using decision tree classifiers and self-organizing maps. Received June 15, 2000 / Revised November 15, 2000     

Learning Pseudo Metric for Intelligent Multimedia Data Classification and Retrieval

While people compare images using semantic concepts, computers compare images using low-level visual features that sometimes have little to do with these semantics. To reduce the gap between the high-level semantics of visual objects and the low-level features extracted from them, in this paper we develop a framework of learning pseudo metrics (LPM) using neural networks for semantic image classification and retrieval. Performance analysis and comparative studies, by experimenting on an image database, show that the LPM has potential application to multimedia information processing.     

图像检索中一种支持多例查询的新方法

基于内容的图像检索的关键问题之一是高层语义和低层图像特征之间的差异,相关反馈技术是缩短这个"语义鸿沟"的有效方法。本文提出了一种新的相关反馈算法,通过分析正例图像在特征空间中的散布来构造该类图像的投影空间,该空间对应于一个语义类在特征空间中分布密集的子空间,在投影空间中计算相似图像。同时根据每次反馈的信息不断修正投影空间来提高系统的检索性能。在Corel大图像库中的实验结果表明,该算法对多例图像查询有较好的检索效果。