A Profile Hidden Markov Model Framework for Modeling and Analysis of Shape

In this paper we propose a new framework for modeling 2D shapes. A shape is first described by a sequence of local features (e.g., curvature) of the shape boundary. The resulting description is then used to build a Profile Hidden Markov Model (PHMM) representation of the shape. PHMMs are a particular type of Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) with special states and architecture that can tolerate considerable shape contour perturbations, including rigid and non-rigid deformations, occlusions and missing contour parts. Different from traditional HMM-based shape models, the sparseness of the PHMM structure allows efficient inference and learning algorithms for shape modeling and analysis. The new framework can be applied to a wide range of problems, from shape matching and classification to shape segmentation. Our experimental results show the effectiveness and robustness of this new approach in the three application domains.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: ICIP
• Authors: Rui Huang, Vladimir Pavlovic, Dimitris N. Metaxas
• Keywords: HMM-based Shape Models, ICIP 2006, Image Processing, Shape Boundary, Shape Contour Perturbations, Shape Matching, Shape Modeling