Browsing museum image collections on a multi-touch table

In this paper we present a multi-touch tabletop system for browsing image databases, conceived for museums and art gallery exhibitions. The system exploits an innovative image browsing paradigm and image retrieval functionalities to perform natural and intuitive user interaction: users can explore the image database by handling digital pictures by means of touch gestures or by the use of a predetermined set of physical objects; once one of these objects is placed on the table, it is automatically recognized and the associated function is triggered. The set of objects and the function associations can be dynamically configured. An innovative feature of our application is that users can interactively create and manipulate image clusters where images are grouped according to their pictorial similarity. This is achieved by placing one or more specific tangible objects on the table surface. The system has been evaluated on a collection of photos organized in groups according to the UNESCO picture categories. The usability tests, performed considering different user categories, show that users consider the application to be attractive and interesting.     

Specification of spatial integrity constraints in pictorialdatabases

A model and a language for specifying spatial integrity constraints in pictorial databases are presented. Spatial integrity constraints are assertions about the correct behavior of database systems that specify acceptable database states and state transitions. They also serve as restrictions on positions occupied by objects in a picture. The language presented primarily uses pictures to specify constraints. The constraint pictures depict unacceptable database states. A data model provides the basic semantics for picture interpretation     

Spatial reasoning and similarity retrieval for image database systems based on RS-strings

In this paper, we propose a rotation-invariant spatial knowledge representation called RS-string. Then we present the string generation algorithm to automatically generate RS-strings for segmented pictures. We also propose the spatial reasoning and similarity retrieval algorithms based on RS-strings. The similarity retrieval algorithm is much more flexible than all previous 2D string representations because our approach can consider every possible view of a query picture. Thus the system does not require the user to provide a query picture which must have the same orientation as that of a database picture. Finally, we provide several examples to demonstrate the capabilities of spatial reasoning and similarity retrieval based on the RS-string representation.     

Head Movement Based Interaction in Mobility

The touchless techniques in human computer interaction (HCI) can effectively expand communication capabilities. In the paper we present the innovative touchless computer control method based on head movement analysis. The aim of our work was to replace the standard mouse with the movements of the user’s head. In contrast to the known solutions, our proposition does not require image recording of the user’s head and complex image analysis. The analysis of position in our solution is made using the camera worn by the user on the head. A project of such a solution has been developed and the research of it has been carried out. It has been shown that in this way it is possible to effectively move the screen cursor to the position which is identified by the user’s face orientation. Additionally, in this solution, the eye image analysis has been performed. Interpretation of blinking allowed executing system commands. Using the built prototype the experiments have been carried out in a group of 30 people. Studies have shown high efficiency and ergonomics of the proposed solution.     

Pictorial Query Specification for Browsing Through Spatially Referenced Image Databases

A pictorial query specification technique that enables the formulation of complex pictorial queries for browsing through a collection of spatially referenced images is presented. It is distinguished from most other methods by the fact that in these methods the query image specifies a target database image in its entirety whereas in our approach the query image specifies the combination of objects that the target database image should contain rather than being treated as a whole image. The query objects are represented by shape features although other features such as color, texture or wavelets could also be used. Using our technique, it is possible to specify which particular objects should appear in the target images as well as how many occurrences of each object are required. Moreover, it is possible to specify the minimum required certainty of matching between query-image objects and database-image objects, as well as to impose spatial constraints that specify bounds on the distance between objects and the relative direction between them. These spatial constraints can also be used to specify other topological relations such as enclosure, intersection, overlap, etc. Each pictorial query is composed of one or more query images. Each query image is constructed by selecting the required query objects and positioning them according to the desired spatial configuration. Boolean combinations of two or more query images are also possible by use of AND and OR operators. A query image may be negated in order to specify conditions that should not be satisfied by the database images that are retrieved successfully. In addition, a capability is provided to specify whether the same instance of an object is to be used when it appears in more than one of the query images that make up the pictorial query, or whether two different instances are allowed. Several example queries are given that demonstrate the expressive power of this query specification method. An algorithm for retrieving all database images that conform to a given pictorial query specification is presented. The user interface for using this pictorial query specification method to browse the results in a map image database application is described and illustrated via screen shots.     

Spatial inference and similarity retrieval of an intelligent image database system based on object's spanning representation

In this paper, we presented a novel image representation method to capture the information about spatial relationships between objects in a picture. Our method is more powerful than all other previous methods in terms of accuracy, flexibility, and capability of discriminating pictures. In addition, our method also provides different degrees of granularity for reasoning about directional relations in both 8- and 16-direction reference frames. In similarity retrieval, our system provides twelve types of similarity measures to support flexible matching between the query picture and the database pictures. By exercising a database containing 3600 pictures, we successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of our image retrieval system. Experiment result showed that 97.8% precision rate can be achieved while maintaining 62.5% recall rate; and 97.9% recall rate can be achieved while maintaining 51.7% precision rate. On an average, 86.1% precision rate and 81.2% recall rate can be achieved simultaneously if the threshold is set to 0.5 or 0.6. This performance is considered to be very good as an information retrieval system.     

一个高效的图像库检索模型

多媒体数据库主要研究如何对数据库庞杂的多媒体数据进行存取、检索等管理。图像库在许多未来的应用中将会作为一个重要的部分。该文通过对传统图像库检索系统的改进,提出一个高效的图像库检索模型。它首先通过神经网络方法对图像进行分类,然后通过数据挖掘中的方法完善属性值,最后通过近似匹配检索出所需要的图像。     

On a method of binary-picture representation and its application to data compression

A method of representing a binary pictorial pattern is developed. Its original idea comes from a sequence of terminal symbols of a context-free grammar. It is a promising technique of data compression for ordinary binary-valued pictures such as texts, documents, charts, etc. Fundamental notions like complexity, primitives, simplifications, and other items about binary-valued pictures are introduced at the beginning. A simple context-free grammar G is also introduced. It is shown that every binary-valued picture is interpretable as a terminal sequence of that G. The DF-expression is defined as the reduced terminal sequence of G. It represents the original picture in every detail and contains no surplus data for reproducing it. A quantitative discussion about the total data of a DF-expression leads to the conclusion that any binary-valued picture with complexity less than 0.47 is expressed by the DF-expression with fewer data than the original ones. The coding algorithm of original data into the DF-expression is developed. It is very simple and recursively executable. Experiments were carried out using a PDS (photo digitizing system), where test pictures were texts, charts, diagrams, etc. with 20 cm × 20 cm size. Data compression techniques in facsimile were also simulated on the same test pictures. Throughout these studies it was made clear that the DF-expression is a very effective technique as a data compression for binary pictorial patterns not only because it yields high data compression but also because its coding and decoding algorithms are very feasible.     

基于矩形骨架的人体动作识别

人体的行为动作存在多样的变化,但是可以使用了片图结构模型,将人体模型作为躯干和若干肢体的序列组合,通过动态规划的方法得到了最佳匹配的人体矩形骨架模型。实验结果表明,结合肢体的方向特征和DTW方法取得了比较好的识别结果,可应用于基于视频的人体动作跟踪和识别。     

A Picture Archive Browser

We describe an implementation of a networked picture browser. The system offers a pictorial interface to pictorial data, relieves the users of thinking about the underlying filing system, provides managerial tools for installing, moving and deleting pictures, offers graded access and picture sharing and supports a number of picture formats, including hierarchical encodings.     

互联网WWW图像搜索引擎的研究与设计

分析了传统搜索引擎的图像搜索以及图像搜索引擎的原理与结构；在此基础上把基于内容的图像检索技术加入图像搜索引擎，设计了本文图像搜索引擎的框架结构，探讨了Robots、图片语义及低层特征的获取结构、索引数据库的结构与入库策略、以及用户访问界面的实现技术；最后，对当前的图像搜索技术局限性及发展趋势进行分析，探讨了图像搜索引擎的发展方向并提出了一些建议．     

A Statistical Framework for Image Category Search from a Mental Picture

Starting from a member of an image database designated the "query image," traditional image retrieval techniques, for example, search by visual similarity, allow one to locate additional instances of a target category residing in the database. However, in many cases, the query image or, more generally, the target category, resides only in the mind of the user as a set of subjective visual patterns, psychological impressions, or "mental pictures." Consequently, since image databases available today are often unstructured and lack reliable semantic annotations, it is often not obvious how to initiate a search session; this is the "page zero problem." We propose a new statistical framework based on relevance feedback to locate an instance of a semantic category in an unstructured image database with no semantic annotation. A search session is initiated from a random sample of images. At each retrieval round, the user is asked to select one image from among a set of displayed images-the one that is closest in his opinion to the target class. The matching is then "mental." Performance is measured by the number of iterations necessary to display an image which satisfies the user, at which point standard techniques can be employed to display other instances. Our core contribution is a Bayesian formulation which scales to large databases. The two key components are a response model which accounts for the user's subjective perception of similarity and a display algorithm which seeks to maximize the flow of information. Experiments with real users and two databases of 20,000 and 60,000 images demonstrate the efficiency of the search process.     

Periocular-based biometrics robust to eye rotation based on polar coordinates

Conventional iris recognition requires a high-resolution camera equipped with a zoom lens and a near-infrared illuminator to observe iris patterns. Moreover, with a zoom lens, the viewing angle is small, restricting the user’s head movement. To address these limitations, periocular recognition has recently been studied as biometrics. Because the larger surrounding area of the eye is used instead of iris region, the camera having the high-resolution sensor and zoom lens is not necessary for the periocular recognition. In addition, the image of user’s eye can be captured by using the camera having wide viewing angle, which reduces the constraints to the head movement of user’s head during the image acquisition. Previous periocular recognition methods extract features in Cartesian coordinates sensitive to the rotation (roll) of the eye region caused by in-plane rotation of the head, degrading the matching accuracy. Thus, we propose a novel periocular recognition method that is robust to eye rotation (roll) based on polar coordinates. Experimental results with open database of CASIA-Iris-Distance database (CASIA-IrisV4) show that the proposed method outperformed the others.     

PowerBuilder实现的图象数据库动态检索

提出了一种实现基一勃段的图象数据库的动态检索、图象预览等功能的方法。ＰｏｗｅｒＢｕｉｌｄｅｒ中窗口的传递。ＷｉｎｄｏｗｓＡＰＩ调用、动态ＳＥＱＬ语句及用户对象等用法及其设计实例在本文中作了一些探讨。     

Creating Fluid Animation from a Single Image using Video Database

We present a method for synthesizing fluid animation from a single image, using a fluid video database. The user inputs a target painting or photograph of a fluid scene along with its alpha matte that extracts the fluid region of interest in the scene. Our approach allows the user to generate a fluid animation from the input image and to enter a few additional commands about fluid orientation or speed. Employing the database of fluid examples, the core algorithm in our method then automatically assigns fluid videos for each part of the target image. Our method can therefore deal with various paintings and photographs of a river, waterfall, fire, and smoke. The resulting animations demonstrate that our method is more powerful and efficient than our prior work.     

High fidelity pictures from digitizing tablets

The nature of the aliasing problem in computer graphics has been understood for some time. A number of anti-aliasing algorithms have appeared in the literature, tailored to particular goals. Commercial framestores may now be purchased with anti-aliasing built into the hardware, and it may be thought that this is a sign that the correct application of anti-aliasing techniques is a solved problem. It is argued that, while these developments are certainly in the right direction, much is being missed which would permit pictures of near-photographic quality to be drawn under computer control without requiring extended post-processing of the picture. In particular, the use of a digitizing tablet to input hand-drawn pictures is not usually treated as the image capture method which it undoubtedly is, and as a consequence the use of directly drawn input results in low quality pictures. The importance of picture quality in such applications as picture retouching for printing, magazine and catalogue preparation, package design, advertisement preparation, television graphics and other pictorial material is unusually high. Therefore the value of extracting the best possible picture and manipulating it in a way which retains its quality is as important to data table input as it is to high grade picture digitizers. Some ways in which a data tablet can be used in keeping with these considerations are presented.     

浅析现代漆画的绘画性

漆画是什么,路在哪里,怎样发展?本文就在回答这些问题而展开论述。漆画有着7000年历史的古老艺术,同时她又是年轻的,作为独立画种以来才半个多世纪而已。是继续忠实秉承传统技艺,或是师从他类画种,还是根植传统的另辟蹊径,有点纷杂,但归结到点上漆画仍是画,绘画性才是她的命脉。因漆画自身的复杂性多样性不确定性,对应了复杂学中的混沌、分形、涌现等等特征,所以对比两者可以更有效地帮助我们来解读漆画的绘画性,更坚定漆画的发展方向就是其绘画性。