Hierarchical indexing for region based image retrieval

Region-based image retrieval system has been an active research area. In this study we developed an improved region-based image retrieval system. The system applies image segmentation to divide an image into discrete regions, which if the segmentation is ideal, correspond to objects. The focus of this research is to improve the capture of regions so as to enhance indexing and retrieval performance and also to provide a better similarity distance computation. During image segmentation, we developed a modified k-means clustering algorithm for image retrieval where hierarchical clustering algorithm is used to generate the initial number of clusters and the cluster centers. In addition, to during similarity distance computation we introduced object weight based on object\u27s uniqueness. Therefore, objects that are not unique such as trees and skies will have less weight. The experimental evaluation is based on the same 1000 COREL color image database with the FuzzyClub, IRM and Geometric Histogram and the performance is compared between them. As compared with existing technique and systems, such as IRM, FuzzyClub, and Geometric Histogram, our study demonstrate the following unique advantages: (i) an improvement in image segmentation accuracy using the modified k-means algorithm (ii)an improvement in retrieval accuracy as a result of a better similarity distance computation that considers the importance and uniqueness of objects in an image

Assessing Cloud Segmentation in the Chromacity Diagram of All-Sky Images

Open Access.--This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of CloudsAll-sky imaging systems are currently very popular. They are used in ground-based meteorological stations and as a crucial part of the weather monitors for autonomous robotic telescopes. Data from all-sky imaging cameras provide important information for controlling meteorological stations and telescopes, and they have specific characteristics different from widely-used imaging systems. A particularly promising and useful application of all-sky cameras is for remote sensing of cloud cover. Post-processing of the image data obtained from all-sky imaging cameras for automatic cloud detection and for cloud classification is a very demanding task. Accurate and rapid cloud detection can provide a good way to forecast weather events such as torrential rainfalls. However, the algorithms that are used must be specifically calibrated on data from the all-sky camera in order to set up an automatic cloud detection system. This paper presents an assessment of a modified k-means++ color-based segmentation algorithm specifically adjusted to the WILLIAM (WIde-field aLL-sky Image Analyzing Monitoring system) ground-based remote all-sky imaging system for cloud detection. The segmentation method is assessed in two different color-spaces (L*a*b and XYZ). Moreover, the proposed algorithm is tested on our public WMD database (WILLIAM Meteo Database) of annotated all-sky image data, which was created specifically for testing purposes. The WMD database is available for public use. In this paper, we present a comparison of selected color-spaces and assess their suitability for the cloud color segmentation based on all-sky images. In addition, we investigate the distribution of the segmented cloud phenomena present on the all-sky images based on the color-spaces channels. In the last part of this work, we propose and discuss the possible exploitation of the color-based k-means++ segmentation method as a preprocessing step towards cloud classification in all-sky images. © 2020 by the authors.This work was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Technical University in Prague, Grant No. SGS20/179/OHK3/3T/13, "Modern Optical Imaging Systems with Non-linear Point Spread Function and Advanced Algorithms for Image Data Processing", and by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, Grant No. 20-10907S, "Meteor clusters: An evidence for fragmentation of meteoroids in interplanetary space". Martin Blazek acknowledges funding under Fellowship Number PTA2016-13192-I and financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIUthrough the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709).Peer reviewe

Segmentation Assisted Object Distinction For Direct Volume Rendering

Ray casting is a direct volume rendering technique for visualizing 3D arrays of sampled data. It has vital applications in medical and biological imaging. Nevertheless, it is inherently open to cluttered classification results. It suffers from overlapping transfer function values and lacks a sufficiently powerful voxel parsing mechanism for object distinction. In this research work, we are proposing an image processing based approach towards enhancing ray casting technique’s object distinction process. The ray casting architecture is modified to accommodate object membership information generated by a K-means based hybrid segmentation algorithm. Object membership information is assigned to cubical vertices in the form of ID tags. An intra-object buffer is devised and coordinated with inter-object buffer, allowing the otherwise global rendering module to embed multiple local (secondary) rendering processes. A local rendering process adds two advantageous aspects to global rendering module. First, depth oriented manipulation of interpolation and composition operations that lead to freedom of interpolation method choice based on the number of available objects in various volumetric depths, improvement of LOD (level of details) for desired objects and reduced number of required mathematical computations. Second, localization of transfer function design that enables the utilization of binary (non-overlapping) transfer functions for color and opacity assignment. A set of image processing techniques are creatively employed in the design of K-means based hybrid segmentation algorithm

Color Image Edge Detection and Segmentation: A Comparison of the Vector Angle and the Euclidean Distance Color Similarity Measures

This work is based on Shafer's Dichromatic Reflection Model as applied to color image formation. The color spaces RGB, XYZ, CIELAB, CIELUV, rgb, l1l2l3, and the new h1h2h3 color space are discussed from this perspective. Two color similarity measures are studied: the Euclidean distance and the vector angle. The work in this thesis is motivated from a practical point of view by several shortcomings of current methods. The first problem is the inability of all known methods to properly segment objects from the background without interference from object shadows and highlights. The second shortcoming is the non-examination of the vector angle as a distance measure that is capable of directly evaluating hue similarity without considering intensity especially in RGB. Finally, there is inadequate research on the combination of hue- and intensity-based similarity measures to improve color similarity calculations given the advantages of each color distance measure. These distance measures were used for two image understanding tasks: edge detection, and one strategy for color image segmentation, namely color clustering. Edge detection algorithms using Euclidean distance and vector angle similarity measures as well as their combinations were examined. The list of algorithms is comprised of the modified Roberts operator, the Sobel operator, the Canny operator, the vector gradient operator, and the 3x3 difference vector operator. Pratt's Figure of Merit is used for a quantitative comparison of edge detection results. Color clustering was examined using the k-means (based on the Euclidean distance) and Mixture of Principal Components (based on the vector angle) algorithms. A new quantitative image segmentation evaluation procedure is introduced to assess the performance of both algorithms. Quantitative and qualitative results on many color images (artificial, staged scenes and natural scene images) indicate good edge detection performance using a vector version of the Sobel operator on the h1h2h3 color space. The results using combined hue- and intensity-based difference measures show a slight improvement qualitatively and over using each measure independently in RGB. Quantitative and qualitative results for image segmentation on the same set of images suggest that the best image segmentation results are obtained using the Mixture of Principal Components algorithm on the RGB, XYZ and rgb color spaces. Finally, poor color clustering results in the h1h2h3 color space suggest that some assumptions in deriving a simplified version of the Dichromatic Reflectance Model might have been violated

Color image segmentation using a spatial k-means clustering algorithm

This paper details the implementation of a new adaptive technique for color-texture segmentation that is a generalization of the standard K-Means algorithm. The standard K-Means algorithm produces accurate segmentation results only when applied to images defined by homogenous regions with respect to texture and color since no local constraints are applied to impose spatial continuity. In addition, the initialization of the K-Means algorithm is problematic and usually the initial cluster centers are randomly picked. In this paper we detail the implementation of a novel technique to select the dominant colors from the input image using the information from the color histograms. The main contribution of this work is the generalization of the K-Means algorithm that includes the primary features that describe the color smoothness and texture complexity in the process of pixel assignment. The resulting color segmentation scheme has been applied to a large number of natural images and the experimental data indicates the robustness of the new developed segmentation algorithm

Prediction model of alcohol intoxication from facial temperature dynamics based on K-means clustering driven by evolutionary computing

Alcohol intoxication is a significant phenomenon, affecting many social areas, including work procedures or car driving. Alcohol causes certain side effects including changing the facial thermal distribution, which may enable the contactless identification and classification of alcohol-intoxicated people. We adopted a multiregional segmentation procedure to identify and classify symmetrical facial features, which reliably reflects the facial-temperature variations while subjects are drinking alcohol. Such a model can objectively track alcohol intoxication in the form of a facial temperature map. In our paper, we propose the segmentation model based on the clustering algorithm, which is driven by the modified version of the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) evolutionary optimization with the goal of facial temperature features extraction from the IR (infrared radiation) images. This model allows for a definition of symmetric clusters, identifying facial temperature structures corresponding with intoxication. The ABC algorithm serves as an optimization process for an optimal cluster's distribution to the clustering method the best approximate individual areas linked with gradual alcohol intoxication. In our analysis, we analyzed a set of twenty volunteers, who had IR images taken to reflect the process of alcohol intoxication. The proposed method was represented by multiregional segmentation, allowing for classification of the individual spatial temperature areas into segmentation classes. The proposed method, besides single IR image modelling, allows for dynamical tracking of the alcohol-temperature features within a process of intoxication, from the sober state up to the maximum observed intoxication level.Web of Science118art. no. 99

Fast Graph-Based Object Segmentation for RGB-D Images

Object segmentation is an important capability for robotic systems, in particular for grasping. We present a graph- based approach for the segmentation of simple objects from RGB-D images. We are interested in segmenting objects with large variety in appearance, from lack of texture to strong textures, for the task of robotic grasping. The algorithm does not rely on image features or machine learning. We propose a modified Canny edge detector for extracting robust edges by using depth information and two simple cost functions for combining color and depth cues. The cost functions are used to build an undirected graph, which is partitioned using the concept of internal and external differences between graph regions. The partitioning is fast with O(NlogN) complexity. We also discuss ways to deal with missing depth information. We test the approach on different publicly available RGB-D object datasets, such as the Rutgers APC RGB-D dataset and the RGB-D Object Dataset, and compare the results with other existing methods

Image segmentation evaluation using an integrated framework

In this paper we present a general framework we have developed for running and evaluating automatic image and video segmentation algorithms. This framework was designed to allow effortless integration of existing and forthcoming image segmentation algorithms, and allows researchers to focus more on the development and evaluation of segmentation methods, relying on the framework for encoding/decoding and visualization. We then utilize this framework to automatically evaluate four distinct segmentation algorithms, and present and discuss the results and statistical findings of the experiment