Automatic Annotation of Images from the Practitioner Perspective

This paper describes an ongoing project which seeks to contribute to a wider understanding of the realities of bridging the semantic gap in visual image retrieval. A comprehensive survey of the means by which real image retrieval transactions are realised is being undertaken. An image taxonomy has been developed, in order to provide a framework within which account may be taken of the plurality of image types, user needs and forms of textual metadata. Significant limitations exhibited by current automatic annotation techniques are discussed, and a possible way forward using ontologically supported automatic content annotation is briefly considered as a potential means of mitigating these limitations

Mining multimedia salient concepts for incremental information extraction

We propose a novel algorithm for extracting information by mining the feature space clusters and then assigning salient concepts to them. Bayesian techniques for extracting concepts from multimedia usually suffer either from lack of data or from too complex concepts to be represented by a single statistical model. An incremental information extraction approach, working at different levels of abstraction, would be able to handle concepts of varying complexities. We present the results of our research on the initial part of an incremental approach, the extraction of the most salient concepts from multimedia information

A framework for evaluating automatic image annotation algorithms

Several Automatic Image Annotation (AIA) algorithms have been introduced recently, which have been found to outperform previous models. However, each one of them has been evaluated using either different descriptors, collections or parts of collections, or "easy" settings. This fact renders their results non-comparable, while we show that collection-specific properties are responsible for the high reported performance measures, and not the actual models. In this paper we introduce a framework for the evaluation of image annotation models, which we use to evaluate two state-of-the-art AIA algorithms. Our findings reveal that a simple Support Vector Machine (SVM) approach using Global MPEG-7 Features outperforms state-of-the-art AIA models across several collection settings. It seems that these models heavily depend on the set of features and the data used, while it is easy to exploit collection-specific properties, such as tag popularity especially in the commonly used Corel 5K dataset and still achieve good performance

Bridging the Semantic Gap in Multimedia Information Retrieval: Top-down and Bottom-up approaches

Semantic representation of multimedia information is vital for enabling the kind of multimedia search capabilities that professional searchers require. Manual annotation is often not possible because of the shear scale of the multimedia information that needs indexing. This paper explores the ways in which we are using both top-down, ontologically driven approaches and bottom-up, automatic-annotation approaches to provide retrieval facilities to users. We also discuss many of the current techniques that we are investigating to combine these top-down and bottom-up approaches

An explorative study of interface support for image searching

In this paper we study interfaces for image retrieval systems. Current image retrieval interfaces are limited to providing query facilities and result presentation. The user can inspect the results and possibly provide feedback on their relevance for the current query. Our approach, in contrast, encourages the user to group and organise their search results and thus provide more fine-grained feedback for the system. It combines the search and management process, which - according to our hypothesis - helps the user to onceptualise their search tasks and to overcome the query formulation problem. An evaluation, involving young design-professionals and di®erent types of information seeking scenarios, shows that the proposed approach succeeds in encouraging the user to conceptualise their tasks and that it leads to increased user satisfaction. However, it could not be shown to increase performance. We identify the problems in the current setup, which when eliminated should lead to more effective searching overall

Multimedia search without visual analysis: the value of linguistic and contextual information

This paper addresses the focus of this special issue by analyzing the potential contribution of linguistic content and other non-image aspects to the processing of audiovisual data. It summarizes the various ways in which linguistic content analysis contributes to enhancing the semantic annotation of multimedia content, and, as a consequence, to improving the effectiveness of conceptual media access tools. A number of techniques are presented, including the time-alignment of textual resources, audio and speech processing, content reduction and reasoning tools, and the exploitation of surface features

PICS: Pipeline for Image Captioning and Search

The growing volume of digital images necessitates advanced systems for efficient categorization and retrieval, presenting a significant challenge in database management and information retrieval. This paper introduces PICS (Pipeline for Image Captioning and Search), a novel approach designed to address the complexities inherent in organizing large-scale image repositories. PICS leverages the advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) to automate the process of image captioning, offering a solution that transcends traditional manual annotation methods. The approach is rooted in the understanding that meaningful, AI-generated captions can significantly enhance the searchability and accessibility of images in large databases. By integrating sentiment analysis into the pipeline, PICS further enriches the metadata, enabling nuanced searches that extend beyond basic descriptors. This methodology not only simplifies the task of managing vast image collections but also sets a new precedent for accuracy and efficiency in image retrieval. The significance of PICS lies in its potential to transform image database systems, harnessing the power of machine learning and natural language processing to meet the demands of modern digital asset management