A simple framework for the generalized nearest neighbor problem

Abstract

The problem of finding a nearest neighbor from a set of points in ℝ d to a complex query object has attracted considerable attention due to various applications in computational geometry, bio-informatics, information retrieval, etc. We propose a generic method that solves the problem for various classes of query objects and distance functions in a unified way. Moreover, for linear space requirements the method simplifies the known approach based on ray-shooting in the lower envelope of an arrangement. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.