Patent ID: 8855420

Claim:
A method of determining a descriptor for a region of interest in an image, the method comprising the following steps, at least one of which being at least partially performed by a control unit of a device: extracting the region of interest from the image; starting from the extracted region of interest, defining a region having a simple shape that covers completely the extracted region of interest; defining a grid of points for the region of interest; associating a respective predetermined zone of influence with each point of the grid of points, wherein the number and distribution of the points of the grid are such that the zones of influence cover completely the region having the simple shape; determining a representative value for each point of the grid of points, the representative value for a particular point of the grid being determined from values of data measured at each pixel contained in that point's respective zone of influence; comparing the representative value obtained for each point of the grid of points with at least one reference value determined from representative values of the points of the grid of points, the result of the comparison being expressed as at least one binary value; and concatenating the results obtained for the points of the grid to define a descriptor for the region of interest in the image.