Perceptual Grouping of Contour Segments Using Markov Random Fields

Ackermann F, Maßmann A, Posch S, Sagerer G, Schlüter D. Perceptual Grouping of Contour Segments Using Markov Random Fields. Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis. 1997;7(1):11-17.The aim of this work is to exploit regular structure in a scene by using the gestalt laws of perception in the field of computer vision. The statistical result of a hand labelled training set is employed to derive ‘‘Areas of perceptual attentiveness’’. Grouping hypotheses are thus generated based on local evidence. To judge these hypotheses in a more global context a Markov random field is used. The approach is contour-based and different types of grouping hypotheses define a hierarchy according to their growing complexity