Class-Specific, Top-Down Segmentation

In this paper we present a novel class-based segmentation method, which is guided by a stored representation of the shape of objects within a general class (such as horse images). The approach is different from bottom-up segmentation methods that primarily use the continuity of grey-level, texture, and bounding contours. We show that the method leads to markedly improved segmentation results and can deal with significant variation in shape and varying backgrounds. We discuss the relative merits of class-specific and general image-based segmentation methods and suggest how they can be usefully combined.

[1]  David G. Stork,et al.  Pattern Classification , 1973 .

[2]  Azriel Rosenfeld,et al.  Split-and-link algorithms for image segmentation , 1982, Pattern Recognit..

[3]  S. Ullman.  Aligning pictorial descriptions: An approach to object recognition , 1989, Cognition.

[4]  Michael Spann,et al.  Texture feature performance for image segmentation , 1990, Pattern Recognit..

[5]  Anil K. Jain,et al.  Unsupervised texture segmentation using Gabor filters , 1990, 1990 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Conference Proceedings.

[6]  B. Gibson,et al.  Shape Recognition Inputs To Figure-Ground Organization in Three-Dimensional Displays , 1993, Cognitive Psychology.

[7]  Alan L. Yuille,et al.  Deformable templates , 1993 .

[8]  M. Peterson.  Object Recognition Processes Can and Do Operate Before Figure–Ground Organization , 1994 .

[9]  Alain Trémeau,et al.  A region growing and merging algorithm to color segmentation , 1997, Pattern Recognit..

[10]  Jitendra Malik,et al.  Normalized cuts and image segmentation , 1997, Proceedings of IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition.

[11]  Peter Meer,et al.  Image Segmentation from Consensus Information , 1997, Comput. Vis. Image Underst..

[12]  R. Baillargeon,et al.  Effects of prior experience on 4.5-month-old infants' object segregation , 1998 .

[13]  Jitendra Malik,et al.  Contour Continuity in Region Based Image Segmentation , 1998, ECCV.

[14]  Shimon Ullman,et al.  Combining Class-Specific Fragments for Object Classification , 1999, BMVC.

[15]  Ronen Basri,et al.  Fast multiscale image segmentation , 2000, Proceedings IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. CVPR 2000 (Cat. No.PR00662).

[16]  Michel Vidal-Naquet,et al.  A Fragment-Based Approach to Object Representation and Classification , 2001, IWVF.

[17]  Shigeo Abe DrEng.  Pattern Classification , 2001, Springer London.

[18]  A. Needham.  Object recognition and object segregation in 4.5-month-old infants. , 2001, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[19]  Demetri Terzopoulos,et al.  Snakes: Active contour models , 2004, International Journal of Computer Vision.