Content-based image retrieval

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR), also known as query by image content

(QBIC) and content-based visual information retrieval (CBVIR) is the application
of computer vision techniques to the image retrieval problem, that is, the problem
of searching for digital images in large databases.

"Content-based" means that the search will analyze the actual contents of the
image rather than the metadata such as keywords, tags, and/or descriptions
associated with the image. The term 'content' in this context might refer to
colors, shapes, textures, or any other information that can be derived from
the image itself. CBIR is desirable because most web based image search
engines rely purely on metadata and this produces a lot of garbage in the results.
Also having humans manually enter keywords for images in a large database can
be inefficient, expensive and may not capture every keyword that describes the
image. Thus a system that can filter images based on their content would provide
better indexing and return more accurate results.

Previous Method Of image Retrival and its disadvantages(Retrival based on

metadata)

Previous method includes searching with metadata(i.e data associated with the
images called tags).Humans manually enter keywords for images in a large
database and search starts.This system is sucessful but pose some
disadvantages

•Not better way of indexing

•InEfficient

•Expensive

•May not capture every keyword that describes the image

•Requires humans to personally describe every image in the database. This

is impractical for very large databases, or for images that are generated
automatically, e.g. from surveillance cameras

CBIR techniques

1)Query techniques

Query by example

Query by example is a query technique that involves providing the CBIR system
with an example image that it will then base its search upon. The underlying
search algorithms may vary depending on the application, but result images
should all share common elements with the provided example

Other query methods

Other query methods include browsing for example images, navigating

customized/hierarchical categories, querying by image region (rather than the
entire image), querying by multiple example images, querying by visual sketch,

2)Content comparison using image distance measures

The most common method for comparing two images in content based image
retrieval (typically an example image and an image from the database) is using
an image distance measure. An image distance measure compares the similarity
of two images in various dimensions such as color, texture, shape, and others.
For example a distance of 0 signifies an exact match with the query, with respect
to the dimensions that were considered. As one may intuitively gather, a value
greater than 0 indicates various degrees of similarities between the images.
Search results then can be sorted based on their distance to the queried image

CBIR Applications

• Art collections

• Photograph archives

• Medical diagnosis

• Crime prevention

• The military

• Geographical information and remote sensing systems

Content Based Text Retrival

Content-based retrieval of text is retrieval that uses the text of the document
rather than any added metadata. Free text searching is a good example of
content-based text retrieval. The words making up the content of the document
are indexed and used as the basis for retrieval, sometimes in conjunction with
quite sophisticated “intelligent” software used to satisfy the query. Search
engines like Google and AltaVista offer content-based text retrieval on the Web.

content-based navigation for text-On the Web, navigation is mainly based on

fixed links that are embedded in the documents themselves. However, it is
possible for hypermedia navigation to be content-based. By this we mean that
the links offered are determined at link following time and selected on the basis
of the content of the chosen source anchor. Link authoring for content-based
navigation involves making an association between some chosen source anchor
and the address of a destination document. The link information may be stored in
a separate location from the document, typically a linkbase holding source
anchors and destination addresses. With this content-based approach to
navigation, multiple links may be made available for a given source anchor,
previously authored links may be added to new documents on the fly with
minimal effort and different viewers may see different link sets depending on the
linkbases which are active at the time

In both content-based retrieval and content-based navigation for text, the process
depends on matching content. In the case of retrieval, the textual content of the
query is matched with text forming the content of the document, typically indexed
in some way to accelerate the retrieval process. In content-based navigation, the
query (which is typically a portion of text selected from the content of the
document) is matched with the text making up the source anchors of links in the
linkbase.

For text, these processes of content-based retrieval and navigation are

sufficiently well established and widely used for us to conclude with some
conviction that content-based retrieval and navigation are worthwhile and
effective approaches for text information handling. Of course metadata based
searches with text are also widely used and the two approaches can complement
each other well. The content matching, on which text content-based processes
depend, are in many cases straightforward exact matches between words,
although statistical matches between word sets, term switching or query
expansion via thesauri, word stemming and other textual tricks can greatly
enhance the processes to provide more powerful retrieval and navigation
facilities.

Now let us turn our attention to content based retrieval and navigation with non-
text media. We will use images as our example although many of the comments
will apply equally to other non-text media. Can we say with the same conviction
as we did for text that content-based image retrieval and navigation are
worthwhile and effective approaches for image information handling? Well, in
short, the answer is “No, certainly not with the same conviction”. But there are
circumstances where content-based retrieval and content-based navigation may
be worthwhile particularly in conjunction with metadata-based techniques. And in
the longer term, as research into media processing offers up more powerful
approaches, the value of content-based techniques should increase.