Using Fuzzy Histograms and Distances for Color Image Retrieval

Traditionally, contentbasedimageretrieval wasbasedon the representationof the imagecontentthroughthefirstorderor second-orderdistribution of somefeaturesthoughtto be relevant for the imagedescription. Luminance, color (expressedin variouscolor representationsystems),edgestrengthandtextural featureswereintensi vely used (independentlyor jointly) during the lastdecade.We proposeto revisit theuseof color imagecontentasan image descriptorthroughtheintroductionof fuzziness,whichnaturallyarisesdueto theimprecisionof thepixel colorvalues andhumanperception.We proposetheuseof both fuzzy color histogramsandtheir correspondingfuzzy distances for theretrieval of color imageswithin variousdatabases.