Akio Nagasaka

Bio: Akio Nagasaka is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Video tracking & Object (computer science). The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 744 citations.

Query by image and video content: the QBIC system

Abstract: Research on ways to extend and improve query methods for image databases is widespread. We have developed the QBIC (Query by Image Content) system to explore content-based retrieval methods. QBIC allows queries on large image and video databases based on example images, user-constructed sketches and drawings, selected color and texture patterns, camera and object motion, and other graphical information. Two key properties of QBIC are (1) its use of image and video content-computable properties of color, texture, shape and motion of images, videos and their objects-in the queries, and (2) its graphical query language, in which queries are posed by drawing, selecting and other graphical means. This article describes the QBIC system and demonstrates its query capabilities. QBIC technology is part of several IBM products. >

Automatic partitioning of full-motion video

Abstract: Partitioning a video source into meaningful segments is an important step for video indexing. We present a comprehensive study of a partitioning system that detects segment boundaries. The system is based on a set of difference metrics and it measures the content changes between video frames. A twin-comparison approach has been developed to solve the problem of detecting transitions implemented by special effects. To eliminate the false interpretation of camera movements as transitions, a motion analysis algorithm is applied to determine whether an actual transition has occurred. A technique for determining the threshold for a difference metric and a multi-pass approach to improve the computation speed and accuracy have also been developed.

Comparing images using color coherence vectors

Abstract: Color histograms are used to compare images in many applications. Their advantages are efficiency, and insensitivity to small changes in camera viewpoint. However, color histograms lack spatial information, so images with very different appearances can have similar histograms. For example, a picture of fall foliage might contain a large number of scattered red pixels; this could have a similar color histogram to a picture with a single large red object. We describe a histogram-based method for comparing images that incorporates spatial information. We classify each pixel in a given color bucket as either coherent or incoherent, based on whether or not it is part of a large similarly-colored region. A color coherence vector (CCV) stores the number of coherent versus incoherent pixels with each color. By separating coherent pixels from incoherent pixels, CCV’s provide finer distinctions than color histograms. CCV’s can be computed at over 5 images per second on a standard workstation. A database with 15,000 images can be queried for the images with the most similar CCV’s in under 2 seconds. We show that CCV’s can give superior results to color his∗To whom correspondence should be addressed tograms for image retrieval.

Comparison of video shot boundary detection techniques

Abstract: Many algorithms have been proposed for detecting video shot boundaries and classifying shot and shot transition types. Few published studies compare available algorithms, and those that do have looked at limited range of test material. This paper presents a comparison of several shot boundary detection and classification techniques and their variations including histograms, discrete cosine transform, motion vector, and block matching methods. The perfor- mance and ease of selecting good thresholds for these algorithms are evaluated based on a wide variety of video sequences with a good mix of transition types. Threshold selection requires a trade-off between recall and precision that must be guided by the target application. © 1996 SPIE and IS&T.

Adaptive key frame extraction using unsupervised clustering

Abstract: Key frame extraction has been recognized as one of the important research issues in video information retrieval. Although progress has been made in key frame extraction, the existing approaches are either computationally expensive or ineffective in capturing salient visual content. We first discuss the importance of key frame selection; and then review and evaluate the existing approaches. To overcome the shortcomings of the existing approaches, we introduce a new algorithm for key frame extraction based on unsupervised clustering. The proposed algorithm is both computationally simple and able to adapt to the visual content. The efficiency and effectiveness are validated by large amount of real-world videos.