Toward Fine-grained Image Retrieval with Adaptive Deep Learning for Cultural Heritage Image

Fine-grained image classification is a challenging research topic because of the high degree of similarity among categories and the high degree of dissimilarity for a specific category caused by different poses and scales. A cultural heritage image is one of the fine-grained images because each image has the same similarity in most cases. Using the classification technique, distinguishing cultural heritage architecture may be difficult. This study proposes a cultural heritage content retrieval method using adaptive deep learning for fine-grained image retrieval. The key contribution of this research was the creation of a retrieval model that could handle incremental streams of new categories while maintaining its past performance in old categories and not losing the old categorization of a cultural heritage image. The goal of the proposed method is to perform a retrieval task for classes. Incremental learning for new classes was conducted to reduce the re-training process. In this step, the original class is not necessary for re-training which we call an adaptive deep learning technique. Cultural heritage in the case of Thai archaeological site architecture was retrieved through machine learning and image processing. We analyze the experimental results of incremental learning for fine-grained images with images of Thai archaeological site architecture from world heritage provinces in Thailand, which have a similar architecture. Using a fine-grained image retrieval technique for this group of cultural heritage images in a database can solve the problem of a high degree of similarity among categories and a high degree of dissimilarity for a specific category. The proposed method for retrieving the correct image from a database can deliver an average accuracy of 85 percent. Adaptive deep learning for fine-grained image retrieval was used to retrieve cultural heritage content, and it outperformed state-of-the-art methods in fine-grained image retrieval.