VizIRa framework for visual information retrieval
In this paper the visual information retrieval project VizIR is presented. The goal of the project is the implementation of an open visual information retrieval (VIR) prototype as basis for further research on major problems of VIR. The motivation behind VizIR is the implementation of an open platform for supporting and facilitating research, teaching, the exchange of research results and research cooperation in the field in general. The availability of this platform could make cooperation and such research (especially for smaller institutions) easier. The intention of this paper is to inform interested researchers about the VizIR project and its design and to invite people to participate in the design and implementation process. We describe the goals of the VizIR project, the intended design of the querying framework, the user interface design and major implementation issues. The querying framework consists of classes for feature extraction, similarity measurement, media handling and database access. User interface design includes a description of visual components and their class structure, the communication between panels and the communication between visual components and query engines. The latter is based on the multimedia retrieval markup language (MRML, Website. http://www.mrml.net (last visited: 20030320)). To be compatible with our querying paradigm, we extend MRML with additional elements. Implementation issues include a sketch on advantages and drawbacks of existing cross-platform media processing frameworks: Java Media Framework, OpenML and DirectX/DirectShow and details on the Java components used for user interface implementation, 3D graphics with Java and Java XML parsing.
visual information retrieval media processing content-based image retrieval content-based video retrieval