Perceptual tolerance intersection

Abstract

This paper introduces a perceptual tolerance intersection of sets as an example of near set operations. Such operations are motivated by the need to consider similarities between digital images viewed as disjoint sets of points. The proposed approach is in keeping with work by E.C. Zeeman on tolerance spaces and visual perception and J.H. Poincaré on sets of similar sensations used to define representative (aka tolerance) spaces such as visual, tactile and motile spaces. Perceptual tolerance intersection of sets is a direct consequence of recent work on near sets and a solution to the problem of how one goes about discovering affinities between digital images. The main contribution of this article is a description-based approach to assessing the resemblances between digital images. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.