Method, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and apparatus for searching an image database

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for searching an image database, comprising:

• receiving an adulterated image of an object, the adulterated image including object annotations for visual reference;
• applying a first neural network to the adulterated image;
• correlating a result of the applying the first neural network with each image of a reference database of images, the result including an edited image of the object and each image of the reference database of images including a reference object;
• and
• selecting, as a matching image, one or more images of the reference database of images having correlation values above a threshold correlation value, wherein the method further comprises
• applying a masking process to the adulterated image, including
• performing, via a second neural network, object recognition on the adulterated image to recognize text-based descriptive features,
• applying, based on the performing the object recognition, computer vision to detect callout features relative to bounding boxes containing the recognized text-based descriptive features, and
• generating, based on the bounding boxes and the detected callout features, a contour mask of the object.

An apparatus for performing a method for searching an image database, comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to
• receive an adulterated image of an object, the adulterated image including object annotations for visual reference,
• apply a first neural network to the adulterated image,
• correlate a result of the applying the first neural network with each image of a reference database of images, the result including an edited image of the object and each image of the reference database of images including a reference object, and
• select, as a matching image, one or more images of the reference database of images having correlation values above a threshold correlation value, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to
• apply a masking process to the adulterated image by
• performing, via a second neural network, object recognition on the adulterated image to recognize text-based descriptive features,
• applying, based on the performing the object recognition, computer vision to detect callout features relative to bounding boxes containing the recognized text-based descriptive features, and
• generating, based on the bounding boxes and the detected callout features, a contour mask of the object.