Planar shape recognition by shape morphing

A novel method based on shape morphing is proposed for 2D shape recognition. In this framework, the shape of objects is described by using their contour. Shape recognition involves a morph between the contours of the objects being compared. The morph is quanti"ed by using a physics-based formulation. This quanti"cation is used as a dissimilarity measure to "nd the reference shape most similar to the input. The dissimilarity measure is shown to have the properties of a metric as well as invariance to Euclidean transformations. The recognition paradigm is applicable to both convex and non-convex shapes. Moreover, the applicability of the method is not constrained to closed shapes. Based on the metric properties of the dissimilarity method, a search strategy is described that obviates an exhaustive search of the template database during recognition experiments. Experimental results on the recognition of various types of shapes are presented. ( 2000 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.