A reliable order-statistics-based approximate nearest neighbor search algorithm

We propose a new algorithm for fast approximate nearest neighbor search based on the properties of ordered vectors. Data vectors are classified based on the index and sign of their largest components, thereby partitioning the space in a number of cones centered in the origin. The query is itself classified, and the search starts from the selected cone and proceeds to neighboring ones. Overall, the proposed algorithm corresponds to locality sensitive hashing in the space of directions, with hashing based on the order of components. Thanks to the statistical features emerging through ordering, it deals very well with the challenging case of unstructured data, and is a valuable building block for more complex techniques dealing with structured data. Experiments on both simulated and real-world data prove the proposed algorithm to provide a state-of-the-art performance

A PatchMatch-based Dense-field Algorithm for Video Copy-Move Detection and Localization

We propose a new algorithm for the reliable detection and localization of video copy-move forgeries. Discovering well crafted video copy-moves may be very difficult, especially when some uniform background is copied to occlude foreground objects. To reliably detect both additive and occlusive copy-moves we use a dense-field approach, with invariant features that guarantee robustness to several post-processing operations. To limit complexity, a suitable video-oriented version of PatchMatch is used, with a multiresolution search strategy, and a focus on volumes of interest. Performance assessment relies on a new dataset, designed ad hoc, with realistic copy-moves and a wide variety of challenging situations. Experimental results show the proposed method to detect and localize video copy-moves with good accuracy even in adverse conditions

SubPatch: Random kd-tree on a sub-sampled patch set for nearest neighbor field estimation

We propose a new method to compute the approximate nearest-neighbors field (ANNF) between image pairs using random kd-tree and patch set sub-sampling. By exploiting image coherence we demonstrate that it is possible to reduce the number of patches on which we compute the ANNF, while maintaining high overall accuracy on the final result. Information on missing patches is then recovered by interpolation and propagation of good matches. The introduction of the sub-sampling factor on patch sets also allows for setting the desired trade off between accuracy and speed, providing a flexibility that lacks in state-of-the-art methods. Tests conducted on a public database prove that our algorithm achieves superior performance with respect to PatchMatch (PM) and Coherence Sensitivity Hashing (CSH) algorithms in a comparable computational time