Patent ID: 8406522

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for flexible feature matching for object recognition in visual systems, the method comprising an act of causing a processor to perform operations of: providing an analysis window, wherein the analysis window is defined to select a portion of an input image to be analyzed for the presence of an object; dividing the analysis window into a plurality of spatial regions; selecting and optimizing a feature kernel function for each spatial region; calculating a plurality of feature values for each spatial region using an optimization algorithm, wherein the feature values represent a matching score between a set of features extracted from the analysis window and a set of stored features; wherein the feature values computed from a location in the spatial region best match a set of stored features corresponding to that spatial region; concatenating the feature values for the plurality of spatial regions to comprise a feature vector; processing of the feature vector by a classification algorithm; and determining if the object is present in the analysis window.