Describing objects using edge-pixel-feature descriptors

A computer-program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and a computer-program mechanism embedded therein, to generate at least one descriptor for an object, the computer-program mechanism including:

• instructions for receiving extracted geometric shapes aligned with edge pixels associated with the object in an image;
• instructions for determining orientations for the geometric shapes;
• instructions for identifying a subset of the geometric shapes, wherein the subset includes an integer number k of the geometric shapes that are proximate to a given geometric shape in the geometric shapes;
• instructions for calculating pairs of angles representing relative displacement and relative orientation of pairs of geometric shapes in the subset, wherein a given pair of angles for a given pair of geometric shapes in the subset includes:
• a first angle at a location on a first geometric shape in the given pair of geometric shapes between the first geometric shape and a line t connected between the first and second geometric shapes in the given pair of geometric shapes, and a second angle at a location on the second geometric shape between the second geometric shape and the line t;
• and
• instructions for generating the at least one descriptor for the object by computing a 2-dimensional (2D) histogram of the pairs of angles based on cells defined by angular quantization values.

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• memory;
• and
• a program module, wherein the program module is stored in the memory and configurable to be executed by the processor to generate at least one descriptor for an object, the program module including:
• instructions for receiving extracted geometric shapes aligned with edge pixels associated with the object in an image;
• instructions for determining orientations for the geometric shapes;
• instructions for identifying a subset of the geometric shapes, wherein the subset includes an integer number k of the geometric shapes that are proximate to a given geometric shape in the geometric shapes;
• instructions for calculating pairs of angles representing relative displacement and relative orientation of pairs of geometric shapes in the subset, wherein a given pair of angles for a given pair of geometric shapes in the subset includes:
• a first angle at a location on a first geometric shape in the given pair of geometric shapes between the first geometric shape and a line t connected between the first and second geometric shapes in the given pair of geometric shapes, and a second angle at a location on the second geometric shape between the second geometric shape and the line t;
• and
• instructions for generating the at least one descriptor for the object by computing a 2-dimensional (2D) histogram of the pairs of angles based on cells defined by angular quantization values.