Binary Visual Word Generation Techniques for A Fast Image Search

Suwon Lee

http://doi.org/10.5626/JOK.2017.44.12.1313

Aggregating local features in a single vector is a fundamental problem in an image search. In this process, the image search process can be speeded up if binary features which are extracted almost two order of magnitude faster than gradient-based features are utilized. However, in order to utilize the binary features in an image search, it is necessary to study the techniques for clustering binary features to generate binary visual words. This investigation is necessary because traditional clustering techniques for gradient-based features are not compatible with binary features. To this end, this paper studies the techniques for clustering binary features for the purpose of generating binary visual words. Through experiments, we analyze the trade-off between the accuracy and computational efficiency of an image search using binary features, and we then compare the proposed techniques. This research is expected to be applied to mobile applications, real-time applications, and web scale applications that require a fast image search.