Shape learning with function-described graphs

Abstract

A new method for shape learning is presented in this paper. This method incorporates abilities from both statistical and structural pattern recognition approaches to shape analysis. It borrows from statistical pattern recognition the capability of modelling sets of point coordinates, and from structural pattern recognition the ability of dealing with highly irregular patterns, such as those generated by points missingness. To that end we use a novel adaptation of Procrustes analysis, designed by us to align sets of points with missing elements. We use this information to generate sets of attributed graphs (AGs). From each set of AGs we synthesize a function-described graph (FDG), which is a type of compact representation that has the capability of probabilistic modelling of both structural and attribute information. Multivariate normal probability density estimation is used in FDGs instead of the originally used histograms. Comparative results of classification performance are presented of structural vs. attributes + structural information. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.