Articulation Prior in an Axial Representation

Local symmetry axis based schemes have been used for generic shape recognition as they lead to articulation insensitive representations. Despite their strengths, purely syntactic level of axial representations precludes the possibility of distinguishing a likely articulation from an unlikely one. In order to overcome this weakness, syntax should be combined with pragmatics and/or semantics. As a solution we propose a novel articulation space which enables inferences on the likelihood of possible articulations. Articulation priors can be constructed directly from examples (pragmatics) or set externally (semantics). We incorporate articulation priors to a skeletal matching scheme to arrive at an enriched axial representation which is sensitive to unlikely articulations but insensitive to likely ones.