Query image synthesis for image retrieval systems based on data augmentation techniques

A method comprising:

• selecting one or more image preprocessing transformations to apply on the foreground object image;
• applying the selected one or more image preprocessing transformations to the foreground object image;
• selecting a background image from a set of background images depicting a variety of different backgrounds which may be associated with the foreground object image;
• merging the selected background image with the foreground object image to form a synthesized image;
• selecting one or more image transformations to apply on the synthesized image;
• applying the selected one or more image transformations to the synthesized image;
• and
• storing the synthesized image in a collection of synthesized images to train a machine learning model to identify, from a plurality of catalog images, one or more catalog images that match a query image received from a user.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including program code which when executed causes operations comprising:

• selecting one or more image preprocessing transformations to apply on the foreground object image;
• applying the selected one or more image preprocessing transformations to the foreground object image;
• selecting a background image from a set of background images depicting a variety of different backgrounds which may be associated with the foreground object image;
• merging the selected background image with the foreground object image to form a synthesized image;
• selecting one or more image transformations to apply on the synthesized image;
• applying the selected one or more image transformations to the synthesized image;
• and
• storing the synthesized image in a collection of synthesized images to train a machine learning model to identify, from a plurality of catalog images, one or more catalog images that match a query image received from a user.