Improving consistency and reducing ambiguity in stochastic labeling: an optimization approach

We approach the problem of labeling a set of objects from a quantitative standpoint. We define a world model in terms of transition probabilities and propose a definition of a class of global criteria that combine both ambiguity and consistency. A projected gradient algorithm is developed to minimize the criterion. We show that the minimization procedure can be implemented in a highly parallel manner. Results are shown on several examples and comparisons are made with relaxation labeling techniques.