Color indexing for efficient image retrieval

Content based image retrieval is an active area of research. Many approaches have been proposed to retrieve images based on matching of some features derived from the image content. Color is an important feature of image content. The problem with many traditional matching-based retrieval methods is that the search time for retrieving similar images for a given query image increases linearly with the size of the image database. We present an efficient color indexing scheme for similarity-based retrieval which has a search time that increases logarithmically with the database size.In our approach, the color features are extracted automatically using a color clustering algorithm. Then the cluster centroids are used as representatives of the images in 3-dimensional color space and are indexed using a spatial indexing method that usesR-tree. The worst case search time complexity of this approach isOn _q log(N^* n_avg)), whereN is the number of images in the database, andn _q andn _avg are the number of colors in the query image and the average number of colors per image in the database respectively. We present the experimental results for the proposed approach on two databases consisting of 337 Trademark images and 200 Flag images.     

Copy-move tampering detection using affine transformation property preservation on clustered keypoints

Recent advances in multimedia technologies have made imaging devices and image editing tools ubiquitous and affordable. Image editing done with malicious intent is called as image tampering or forgery. The most common forgery is the copy-move forgery which involves copying a part of an image and pasting it on some other part of the same image. There are many existing methods for such forgery detection, but most of them are sensitive to post-processing and do not detect multiple instances of forgeries in an image. In the proposed approach, affine transformation property preservation of clustered keypoints in the image is used, which includes the tests for collinearity and distance ratio preservation. Our method is also able to detect multiple copy-move forgeries within an image. The proposed method is tested against four image tampering detection datasets, and the results of our method are the best compared to the existing eight state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy.     

User behavior based Insider Threat Detection using a Multi Fuzzy Classifier

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Insider threats are a significant source of security breaches in organizations. They are often identified using machine and deep learning methods. These methods...     

Content-based retrieval for trademark registration

With ever increasing number of registered trademarks, the task of trademark office is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the uniqueness of all trademarks registered. Trademarks are complex patterns consisting of various image and text patterns, called device-mark and word-in-mark respectively. Due to the diversity and complexity of image patterns occurring in trademarks, due to multi-lingual word-in-mark, there is no very successful computerized operating trademark registration system. We have tackled key technical issues: multiple feature extraction methods to capture the shape, similarity of multi-lingual word-in-mark, matching device mark interpretation using fuzzy thesaurus, and fusion of multiple feature measures for conflict trademark retrieval. A prototype System for Trademark Archival and Registration (STAR) has been developed. The initial test run has been conducted using 3000 trademarks, and the results have shown satisfaction to trademark officers and specialists.     

Automated camera sabotage detection for enhancing video surveillance systems

Surveillance cameras are vital source of information in crime investigations. A surveillance video must be recorded with correct field of view and be of good quality, otherwise, it may not be suitable for investigation or analysis purposes. Perpetrators may tamper the recorded video or the physical device itself, in order to conceal their dubious activities. Generally, surveillance systems are unmanned due to limitations of manual monitoring. Automatic detection of camera tamper events is crucial for timely operator intervention. We propose a new method for detecting video camera tampering events like occlusion, defocus and displacement. The features used are edge information, frame count, foreground objects’ coverage area and its static nature. Effectiveness of our method is tested through experimentation on public datasets. The results obtained are encouraging with high detection and low false alarm rates. The proposed method automatically detects routine problems with cameras like dirt on camera lens, fog and smoke.

     

Fingerprint image analysis for automatic identification

Most of the papers on fingerprints deal with classification of fingerprint images. Fingerprint databases being large (in the range of millions), the effort in matching of fingerprints within a class or when the class is unknown, is very significant. This requires fingerprint image analysis and extraction of the “minutiae” features, which are used for matching FPs. In this paper a scheme of preprocessing and feature extraction of fingerprint images for automatic identification is presented, which works even if the pattern class is unknown. The identification of fingerprints is based on matching the minutiae features of a given finger-print against those stored in the database. The core and delta information is used for classification and for registration while matching. These algorithms have been tested for more than 10,000 fingerprint images of different qualities. The results are manually verified and found to be very good for practical application. A few sample results are presented.     

CORE: a content-based retrieval engine for multimedia information systems

Rapid advances in multimedia technology necessitate the development of a generic multimedia information system with a powerful retrieval engine for prototyping multimedia applications. We develop a content-based retrieval engine (CORE) that makes use of novel indexing techniques for multimedia object retrieval. We formalize the concepts related to multimedia information systems such as multimedia objects and content-based retrieval. We bring out the requirements and challenges of a multimedia information system. The architecture of CORE is described in detail along with the associated retrieval mechanisms and indexing techniques. Various modules developed for efficient retrieval are presented with some APIs. The efficacy of CORE is demonstrated in the development of two multimedia systems, a computer-aided facial image inference and retrieval (CAFIIR) system and a system for trademark archival and retrieval (STAR), which have been developed at the Institute of Systems Science (ISS). We expect that CORE will be useful for effective prototyping of other such multimedia applications.Mainly supported by National Science & Technology Board of SingaporePartly working in Real World Computing Partnership, Novel Function Institute of Systems Science Laboratory since April 1994.