PicToSeek: A Color Image Invariant Retrieval System

In this paper, our goal is to analyze and evaluate various color features to be used for the purpose of image retrieval by color-metric histogram matching independent of varying imaging conditions.

In theory, we will examine the effect of a change in camera viewpoint, object surface orientation, illumination intensity, and illumination color for the various color features under a simple reflection model.

To evaluate photometric color invariance in practice, experiments have been carried out on a database consisting of 500 images taken from multicolored man-made objects in real world scenes. Images in the database show a considerable amount of noise, shadows, shading and specularities resulting in a good representation of views from everyday life as it appears in home video and consumer photography in general.

Finally, using the color invariant models, we describe an image search system by which visual information is automatically collected, indexed and cataloged entirely on the basis of the pictorial content. The system allows for fast online image search by combining: (1) visual browsing through the precomputed image catalogue; (2) query by pictorial example; (3) query by image features. The system shows high image retrieval accuracy and fast image search.