Shape recognition by voting on fast marching iterations

Abstract

In this study, we present a Fast Marching (FM) - Shape Description integrated methodology that is capable both extracting object boundaries and recognizing shapes. A new speed formula is proposed, and the local front stopping algorithm in [1] is enhanced to freeze the active contour near real object boundaries. GBSD [2] is utilized as shape descriptor on evolving contour. Shape description process starts when a certain portion of the contour is stopped and continues with FM iterations. Shape description at each iteration is treated as a different source of shape information and they are fused to get better recognition results. This approach removes the limitation of traditional recognition systems that have only one chance for shape classification. Test results shown in this study prove that the voted decision result among these iterated contours outperforms the ordinary individual shape recognizers. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.