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/** \page ImageProcessingTutorial Image Processing
<h2>Section Contents</h2>
In this chapter we'll use VIGRA's methods for some applications of Image Processing.
<ul style="list-style-image:url(documents/diamond.gif)">
<li> \ref CallingConventions
<li> \ref ImageInversion
<li> \ref ImageBlending
<li> \ref CompositeImage
<li> \ref SmoothingTutorial
<ul>
<li> \ref Convolve2DTutorial
<li> \ref SeparableConvolveTutorial
<li> \ref ParallelConvolveTutorial
</ul>
</ul>
\section CallingConventions Calling Conventions
VIGRA's image processing functions follow a uniform calling convention: The argument list start with the input images or arrays, followed by the output images or arrays, followed by the function's parameters (if any). Some functions additionally accept an option object that allows more fine-grained control of the function's actions and must be passed as the last argument. Most functions assume that the output arrays already have the appropriate shape.
All functions working on arrays expect their arguments to be passed as \ref vigra::MultiArrayView instances. Functions that only support 2-dimensional images usually contain the term "Image" in their name, whereas functions that act on arbitrary many dimensions usually contain the term "Multi" in their name. <br/>
Examples:
\code
// determine the connected components in a binary image, using the 8-neighborhood
MultiArray<2, UInt8> image(width, height);
MultiArray<2, UInt32> labels(width, height);
... // fill image
labelImage(image, labels, true);
// smooth a 3D array with a gaussian filter with sigma=2.0
MultiArray<3, float> volume(Shape3(300, 200, 100)),
smoothed(Shape3(300, 200, 100));
... // fill volume
gaussianSmoothMultiArray(volume, smoothed, 2.0);
// compute the determinant of a 5x5 matrix
MultiArray<2, float> matrix(Shape2(5, 5));
... // fill matrix with data
float det = linalg::determinant(matrix);
\endcode
For historical reasons, VIGRA also supports two alternative APIs in terms of iterators. These APIs used to be considerably faster, but meanwhile compilers and processors have improved to the point where the much simpler MultiArrayView API no longer imposes a significant abstraction penalty. While there are no plans to remove support for the old APIs, they should not be used in new code.
<ul>
<li> Functions on 2-dimensional images may support an \ref ImageIterators API. These iterators are best passed to the functions via the convenience functions <tt>srcImageRange(array)</tt>, <tt>srcImage(array)</tt>, and <tt>destImage(array)</tt>. A detailed description of the convenience functions can be found in section \ref ArgumentObjectFactories. Example:
\code
// compute the pixel-wise square root of an image
MultiArray<2, float> input(Shape2(200, 100)),
result(imput.shape());
... // fill input with data
transformImage(srcImageRange(input), destImage(result), &sqrt); // deprecated API
\endcode
<li> Functions for arbitrary-dimensional arrays may support hierarchical \ref MultiIteratorPage. These iterators are best passed to the functions via the convenience functions <tt>srcMultiArrayRange(array)</tt>, <tt>srcMultiArray(array)</tt>, and <tt>destMultiArray(array)</tt>. A detailed description of these convenience functions can also be found in section \ref ArgumentObjectFactories. Example:
\code
// compute the element-wise square root of a 4-dimensional array
MultiArray<4, float> input(Shape4(200, 100, 50, 30)),
result(imput.shape());
... // fill input with data
transformMultiArray(srcMultiArrayRange(input), destMultiArray(result), &sqrt); // deprecated API
\endcode
\section ImageInversion Inverting an Image
Inverting an (gray scale) image is quite easy. We just need to subtract every pixel's
value from white (255). This simple task doesn't need an explicit function call at all, but is best solved with an arithmetic expression implemented in namespace \ref MultiMathModule. To avoid possible overload ambiguities,
you must explicitly activate array arithmetic via the command <tt>using namespace vigra::multi_math</tt> before use. To invert <tt>imageArray</tt> and overwrite its original contents, you write:
\code
using namespace vigra::multi_math;
imageArray = 255-imageArray;
\endcode
See here for a complete example:
<a href="invert_tutorial_8cxx-example.html">invert_tutorial.cxx</a>
This is the result:
<Table cellspacing = "10">
<TR valign = "bottom">
<TD> \image html lenna_small.gif "input file" </TD>
<TD> \image html lenna_inverted.gif "inverted output file" </TD>
</TR>
</Table>
\section ImageBlending Image Blending
In this example, we have two input images and want to blend them into one another.
In the combined output image every pixel value is the mean of the two appropriate original pixels. This is also best solved with array arithmetic:
\code
using namespace vigra::multi_math;
exportArray = 0.5*imageArray1 + 0.5*imageArray2;
\endcode
Since it is not guaranteed that the two input images have the same shape, we first
determine the maximum possible shape of the blended image, which equals the minimum
size along each axis. With the help of subarray-method we just blend the appropriate
parts of the two images. These parts (subimages) are aligned around the centers
of the original images.
Here's the code:
<a href="dissolve_8cxx-example.html">dissolve.cxx</a>
And here are the results:
<table cellspacing = "10">
<TR valign = "bottom">
<TD> \image html lenna_color_small.gif "input file 1" </TD>
<TD> \image html oi_small.jpg "input file 2" </TD>
<TD> \image html dissolved_color.gif "dissolved output file" </TD>
</TR>
</table>
\section CompositeImage Creating a Composite Image
Let's come to a little gimmick. Given one input image we want to create a composite image
of 4 images reflected with respect to each other. The result resembles the effect of a
kaleidoscope. Two of VIGRA's functions are sufficient for this purpose: \ref MultiArray_subarray
and \ref reflectImage(). Input and output images of reflectImage() are specified by MultiArrayViews.
The third parameter specifies the desired reflection axis. The axis can either
be horizontal, vertical or both (as in this example):
\code
reflectImage(inputArray, outputArray, horizontal | vertical);
\endcode
Here's the code:
<a href="composite_8cxx-example.html">composite.cxx</a>
And here are the results:
<Table cellspacing = "10">
<TR valign = "bottom">
<TD> \image html lenna_color_small.gif "input file" </TD>
<TD> \image html lenna_composite_color.gif "composite output file" </TD>
</TR>
</Table>
\section SmoothingTutorial Smoothing
\subsection Convolve2DTutorial 2-dimensional Convolution
There are many different ways to smooth an image. Before we use VIGRA's methods, we
want to write a smoothing code of our own. The idea is to choose each pixel in turn and
replace it with the mean of itself and the pixels in 5x5 window around it.
To calculate the mean in a window, we can just divide the sum of the pixel values
within the corresponding subarray by their number. MultiArrayView provides two useful
methods for doing this: <tt>sum</tt> and <tt>size</tt>.
In our code we iterate over every pixel, construct the surrounding 5x5 window via
<tt>subarray</tt>, and write the average of the window into the corresponding output pixel.
Near the borders of the image we truncate the window appropriately so that it remains
inside the image, and only take the average over the actually existing neighbours of the pixel.
See the code:
<a href="smooth_explicitly_8cxx-example.html">smooth_explicitly.cxx</a>
The results:
<Table cellspacing = "10">
<TR valign = "bottom">
<TD> \image html lenna_small.gif "input file" </TD>
<TD> \image html lenna_smoothed.gif "smoothed output file" </TD>
</TR>
</Table>
The technical term for this kind of operation is <i>convolution</i>. VIGRA provides
<dfn>convolveImage</dfn> as a comfortable way to perform 2-dimensional convolutions
with arbitrary filters. You may use it as follows:
\code
convolveImage(inputImage, resultImage, filter);
\endcode
The filter of <i>convolution kernel</i> is given as argument object by <dfn>kernel2d()</dfn>.
To implement the above smoothing by taking averages in 3x3 windows, you need an averaging
kernel with radius 1. Kernel truncation near the image borders is performed when the
filter's border treatment mode is set to <tt>BORDER_TREATMENT_CLIP</tt>:
\code
Kernel2D<double> filter;
filter.initAveraging(1);
filter.setBorderTreatment(BORDER_TREATMENT_CLIP);
\endcode
By default, VIGRA's convolution functions use <tt>BORDER_TREATMENT_REFLECT</tt> (i.e. the
image is virtually enlarged by reflecting the pixel values about the border), which usually
leads to superior results. The strength of smoothing can be controlled by increasing the filter
radius.
Another improvement over simple averaging can be achieved when one takes a <i>weighted
average</i> such that pixels near the center have more influence on the result.
A popular choice here is the 5x5 binomial filter. VIGRA allows to specify arbitrary filter
shapes and coefficients via the <tt>Kernel2D::initExplicitly()</tt>:
\code
Kernel2D<float> filter;
// specify filter shape (lower right corner is inclusive here!)
filter.initExplicitly(Shape2(-2,-2), Shape2(2,2));
// specify filter coefficients
filter = 1.0/256.0, 4.0/256.0, 6.0/256.0, 4.0/256.0, 1.0/256.0,
4.0/256.0, 16.0/256.0, 24.0/256.0, 16.0/256.0, 4.0/256.0,
6.0/256.0, 24.0/256.0, 36.0/256.0, 24.0/256.0, 6.0/256.0,
4.0/256.0, 16.0/256.0, 24.0/256.0, 16.0/256.0, 4.0/256.0,
1.0/256.0, 4.0/256.0, 6.0/256.0, 4.0/256.0, 1.0/256.0;
// apply filter
convolveImage(inputImage, resultImage, filter);
\endcode
<tt>initExplicitly()</tt> receives the upper left and lower right corners of the
filter window. Note that the lower right corner here is <i>included</i> in the window,
in contrast to <tt>MultiArray::subarray()</tt> where the end point is not included.
The filter weights are provided in a comma separated list. Normally, the sum of the
coefficients should to be 1 in order to preserve the average intensity of the image.
You must provide either as many coefficients as needed for the given filter size,
or exactly one value which will be used for all filter coefficients. Thus, the 3x3
averaging filter can also be created like this:
\code
Kernel2D<double> filter;
filter.initExplicitly(Shape2(-1,-1), Shape2(1,1)) = 1.0/9.0;
\endcode
For various theoretical and practical reasons, the Gaussian filter is the best choice
in most situations. Its coefficients are chosen according to a Gaussian (i.e.
bell-shaped) function with given standard deviation. The kernel class has a
convenient <dfn>initGaussian(std_dev)</dfn> method that creates the appropriate
coefficients:
\code
vigra::Kernel2D<float> filter;
filter.initGaussian(1.5);
convolveImage(inputImage, resultImage, filter);
\endcode
A complete example using these possibilities can be found in <a href="smooth_convolve_8cxx-example.html">smooth_convolve.cxx</a>.
<hr>
\subsection SeparableConvolveTutorial Separable Convolution in 2D and nD Images
When filtering is implemented with 2-dimensional windows as in the previous section,
we need as many multiplications per pixel as there are coefficients in the filter.
Fortunately, many important filters (including averaging and Gaussian smoothing)
have the property of being <i>separable</i>, which allows a much more efficient
implementation in terms of 1-dimensional windows. A 2-dimensional filter is
separable if its coefficients \f$f_{ij}\f$ can be expressed as an outer product
of two 1-dimensional filters \f$h_i\f$ and \f$c_j\f$:
\f[
f_{ij} = h_i \cdot c_j
\f]
For example, the 3x3 averaging filter (with coefficients 1/9) is obtained as the outer
product of two 3x1 filters (with coefficients 1/3):
\f[ \left( \begin{array}{ccc} \frac{1}{9} & \frac{1}{9} & \frac{1}{9} \\[1ex]
\frac{1}{9} & \frac{1}{9} & \frac{1}{9} \\[1ex]
\frac{1}{9} & \frac{1}{9} & \frac{1}{9} \end{array} \right) =
\left( \begin{array}{c} \frac{1}{3} \\[1ex] \frac{1}{3} \\[1ex] \frac{1}{3} \end{array} \right) \cdot
\left( \begin{array}{ccc} \frac{1}{3} & \frac{1}{3} & \frac{1}{3} \end{array} \right)
\f]
The convolution with separable filters can be implemented by two consecutive 1-dimensional
convolutions: first, one filters all rows of the image with the horizontal filter, and then
all columns of the result with the vertical filter. Instead of the (n x m) operations required
for a 2-dimensional window, we now only need (n + m) operations for the two 1-dimensional ones.
Already for a 5x5 window, this reduces the number of operations from 25 to 10, and the difference
becomes even bigger with increasing window size.
To construct and apply 1-dimensional filters, VIGRA provides the class \ref vigra::Kernel1D and
the functions separableConvolveX() resp. separableConvolveY(). To compute a 2D Gaussian filter
we use the following code:
\code
Kernel1D<double> filter;
filter.initGaussian(1.5);
MultiArray<2, float> tmpImage(inputImage.shape());
separateConvolveX(inputImage, tmpImage, filter);
separateConvolveY(tmpImage, resultImage, filter);
\endcode
Note that we need an intermediate image to hold the result of the horizontal filtering.
The same result is more conveniently achieved by the functions \ref convolveImage() and
\ref gaussianSmoothing() (see <a href="smooth_convolve_8cxx-example.html">smooth_convolve.cxx</a>
for a working example):
\code
// apply 'filter' to both the x- and y-axis
// (calls separateConvolveX() and separateConvolveY() internally)
convolveImage(inputImage, resultImage, filter, filter);
// smooth image with Gaussian filter with sigma=1.5
// (calls convolveImage() with Gaussian filter internally)
gaussianSmoothing(inputImage, resultImage, 1.5);
\endcode
It is, of course, also possible to apply different filters in the x- and y-directions.
This is especially useful for derivative filters which are commonly used to compute
image features, for example \ref gaussianGradient() and \ref gaussianGradientMagnitude().
For more information see \ref ConvolutionFilters.
Separable filters are also the key for efficient convolution of higher-dimensional images
and arrays: An n-dimensional filter is simply implemented by n consecutive 1-dimensional
filter applications, regardless of the size of n. This is the basis for VIGRA's
multi-dimensional filter functions. For example, Gaussian smoothing in arbitrary many
dimensions is implemented in \ref gaussianSmoothMultiArray():
\code
MultiArray<3, UInt8> inputArray(Shape3(100, 100, 100));
... // fill inputArray with data
MultiArray<3, float> resultArray(inputArray.shape());
// perform isotropic Gaussian smoothing at scale 1.5
gaussianSmoothMultiArray(inputArray, resultArray, 1.5);
\endcode
More information about VIGRA's multi-dimensional convolution functions can be found in
the reference manual under \ref ConvolutionFilters.
\subsection ParallelConvolveTutorial Parallel Execution of Gaussian Filters
The computation of Gaussian filters and their derivatives can be accelerated significantly
when rectangular blocks of a large image as processed in parallel.
This is easily achieved in VIGRA by passing the option object
\ref vigra::BlockwiseConvolutionOptions to the convolution functions:
\code
// create a big array
MultiArray<3, UInt8> inputArray(Shape3(1000, 1000, 100));
... // fill inputArray with data
MultiArray<3, float> resultArray(inputArray.shape());
// perform isotropic Gaussian smoothing at scale 1.5 in parallel
gaussianSmoothMultiArray(inputArray, resultArray, 1.5,
BlockwiseConvolutionOptions<3>());
\endcode
This call will spawn the standard number of threads for the present platform
(as returned by <tt>std::thread::hardware_concurrency()</tt>) and distributes
the work across these threads in blocks with a suitable default shape.
You can customize the number of threads and the block shape via the option
object:
\code
gaussianSmoothMultiArray(inputArray, resultArray, 1.5,
BlockwiseConvolutionOptions<3>().numThreads(6)
.blockShape(Shape3(128, 128, 100)));
\endcode
The same works for Gaussian derivative filters such as \ref gaussianGradientMultiArray(),
\ref gaussianGradientMagnitude(), and \ref hessianOfGaussianMultiArray(). Refer to section
\ref ConvolutionFilters for more details.
*/
/** \example invert_tutorial.cxx
Invert an image file (gray scale or color)
<br>
Usage: <TT>invert infile outfile</TT>
*/
/** \example dissolve.cxx
Dissolve two image files (gray scale or color)
<br>
Usage: <TT>dissolve infile1 infile2 outfile</TT>
*/
/** \example composite.cxx
Create a composite image (gray scale or color)
<br>
Usage: <TT>composite infile outfile</TT>
*/
/** \example smooth_explicitly.cxx
Smooth an image by averaging a 5x5-box (gray scale or color)
<br>
Usage: <TT>smooth_explicitly infile outfile</TT>
*/
/** \example smooth_convolve.cxx
Convolve an image in different ways (gray scale or color)
<br>
Usage: <TT>smooth_convolve infile outfile</TT>
*/
/** \page ImageSegmentationTutorial Image Segmentation
<h2>Section Contents</h2>
<ul style="list-style-image:url(documents/diamond.gif)">
<li> \ref SuperpixelsTutorial
<li> \ref RAGTutorial
<li> \ref ClusteringTutorial
</ul>
The complete code of the example described here can be found in <a href="graph_agglomerative_clustering_8cxx-example.html">graph_agglomerative_clustering.cxx</a>.
\section SuperpixelsTutorial Computing Superpixels
Hierarchical or agglomerative clustering can be applied either to the pixels directly
by using a \ref vigra::GridGraph, or on an initial oversegmentation into superpixels
whose region adjacency graph is represented in a \ref vigra::AdjacencyListGraph. We
describe the second variant here, as it offers more possibilities, but the first
works essentially in the same way.
Before computing superpixels, it is useful to transform the data from the RGB colorspace
into the Lab colorspace, because distances in the Lab space are perceptually more meaningful:
\code
// read the input image
ImageImportInfo info(filename);
MultiArray<2, TinyVector<float, 3> > imageArrayRGB(info.shape());
importImage(info, imageArrayRGB);
// convert into Lab color space
MultiArray<2, TinyVector<float, 3> > imageArrayLab(imageArrayRGB.shape());
transformMultiArray(imageArrayRGB, imageArrayLab, RGB2LabFunctor<float>());
\endcode
VIGRA offers two superpixel algorithms: watersheds and SLIC superpixels. We use
the watershed algorithm here, see \ref slicSuperpixels() for more information on
the alternative. To run the watershed algorithm, we first need an edge indicator
(i.e. an image with big values along edges and small values elsewhere) like the
gradient magnitude:
\code
// detect edges by the Gaussian gradient magnitude
MultiArray<2, float> gradMag(imageArrayLab.shape());
float sigmaGradMag = 3.0f;
gaussianGradientMagnitude(imageArrayLab, gradMag, sigmaGradMag);
\endcode
<Table cellspacing = "10">
<TR valign = "bottom">
<TD> \image html bears.jpg "input image" </TD>
<TD> \image html bears_gradient.png "gradient magnitude" </TD>
</TR>
</Table>
The watershed algorithm initiates a superpixel at every local minimum of the gradient
image and then grows these seeds along increasing gradients until they meet at the
gradient ridges (called "watersheds" because we can interpret the gradient as the
altitude of a landscape) which partly correspond to true image edges, but are also located
elsewhere. The goal of the subsequent hierarchical clustering is to identify the
true edges and delete the spurious ones. The superpixels are represented in a label
image that assigns the superpixel ID to every pixel. To visualize the superpixels,
it is useful to display the watershed lines as an overlay on an enlarged version
of the input image (Enlarging the image is necessary because the watersheds are
actually between pixels, i.e. at half-integer coordinates. Doubling maps these
to odd-valued coordinates in the enlarged image, so that rounding is avoided.).
In this example, we use the fast union-find watershed algorithm, which is also
available in a parallel version in function \ref unionFindWatershedsBlockwise():
\code
// create watershed superpixels with the fast union-find algorithm
MultiArray<2, unsigned int> labelArray(gradMag.shape());
unsigned int max_label = watershedsMultiArray(gradMag, labelArray, DirectNeighborhood,
WatershedOptions().unionFind());
// double the image resolution and create watershed overlay
MultiArray<2, TinyVector<float, 3> > imageArrayBig(imageArrayRGB.shape()*2-Shape2(1));
resizeMultiArraySplineInterpolation(imageArrayRGB, imageArrayBig);
regionImageToCrackEdgeImage(labelArray, imageArrayBig,
RGBValue<float>(255, 0, 0), EdgeOverlayOnly);
\endcode
\image html bears_superpixels.png
\section RAGTutorial Constructing the Region Adjacency Graph and its Feature Maps
Next, we invoke \ref makeRegionAdjacencyGraph() to construct the region adjacency
graph (RAG) of the superpixels. This function takes any graph along with a connected
components labeling and creates a new graph that has exactly one node per connected
component, and nodes are connected by an edge whenever the corresponding components are
neighbors in the original graph, i.e. the original graph contains at least one edge
with one end point in the first and the other in the second component. In general,
each pair of components has several edges with this property, and all of them are
mapped onto a single edge in the RAG. To keep track of this mapping,
makeRegionAdjacencyGraph() accepts an additional parameter \a affiliatedEdges, which
is a map from edge IDs in the RAG to vectors of edge IDs in the original graph.
In our case, the input graph is a \ref vigra::GridGraph whose labeling is stored
in the \a labelArray, and the output graph is a \ref vigra::AdjacencyListGraph.
The mapping \a affiliatedEdges is best constructed by using embedded types of
these graph classes:
\code
// create grid-graph of appropriate size
typedef GridGraph<2, undirected_tag> ImageGraph;
ImageGraph imageGraph(labelArray.shape());
// construct an empty graph to hold the region adjacency graph for the superpixels
typedef AdjacencyListGraph RAG;
RAG rag;
// create the mapping 'affiliatedEdges' from RAG edges to
// corresponding imageGraph edges and build the RAG
RAG::EdgeMap<std::vector<ImageGraph::Edge>> affiliatedEdges(rag);
makeRegionAdjacencyGraph(imageGraph, labelArray, rag, affiliatedEdges);
\endcode
Note that VIGRA's graph classes conform to the elegant API defined in the
<a href="https://lemon.cs.elte.hu/">LEMON Graph Library</a>. Although VIGRA
doesn't use LEMON's implementation of this API, it is worth reading their
<a href="http://lemon.cs.elte.hu/pub/tutorial/index.html">tutorial</a>
because VIGRA's graph classes behave in exactly the same way.
To control agglomerative clustering, i.e. to define the order in which
edges are contracted and nodes merged, we need some features that describe
the dissimilarity of superpixels. The more dissimilar two superpixels are,
the more likely they will remain separated, i.e. belong to different regions
of the final segmentation. We distinguish two kinds of features: edge weights
and node features.
Edge weights should be high when two superpixels are separated by an object
edge, i.e. when the gradient magnitude along the common superpixel boundary is high.
We define the edge weight as the average gradient magnitude along the boundary,
i.e. as the average over the grid edges that correspond to the present RAG edge.
However, as pointed out earlier, watershed boundaries are located between pixels,
i.e. on half-integer coordinates, whereas the gradient has been computed on pixels,
i.e. at integer coordinates. We solve this problem by linear interpolation: the
gradient of a grid edge is the average gradient of its two end points.
\code
// create edge maps for weights and lengths of the RAG edges (zero initialized)
RAG::EdgeMap<float> edgeWeights(rag),
edgeLengths(rag);
// iterate over all RAG edges (this loop follows a standard LEMON idiom)
for(RAG::EdgeIt rag_edge(rag); rag_edge != lemon::INVALID; ++rag_edge)
{
// iterate over all grid edges that constitute the present RAG edge
for(unsigned int k = 0; k < affiliatedEdges[*rag_edge].size(); ++k)
{
// look up the current grid edge and its end points
auto const & grid_edge = affiliatedEdges[*rag_edge][k];
auto start = imageGraph.u(grid_edge),
end = imageGraph.v(grid_edge);
// compute gradient by linear interpolation between end points
double grid_edge_gradient = 0.5 * (gradMag[start] + gradMag[end]);
// aggregate the total
edgeWeights[*rag_edge] += grid_edge_gradient;
}
// the length of the RAG edge equals the number of constituent grid edges
edgeLengths[*rag_edge] = affiliatedEdges[*rag_edge].size();
// define edge weights by the average gradient
edgeWeights[*rag_edge] /= edgeLengths[*rag_edge];
}
\endcode
Node features are defined by the average Lab color of each superpixel.
Hierarchical clustering will later turn this into a node dissimilarity by
computing the Euclidean distance between the average colors of neighboring
superpixels, possibly weighted by the superpixels' sizes. To compute these
features, we invoke VIGRA's \ref FeatureAccumulators framework:
\code
// determine size and average Lab color of each superpixel
using namespace acc;
AccumulatorChainArray<CoupledArrays<2, TinyVector<float, 3>, unsigned int>,
Select<DataArg<1>, LabelArg<2>, // where to look for data and region labels
Count, Mean> > // what statistics to compute
features;
extractFeatures(imageArrayLab, labelArray, features);
\endcode
To be understood by hierarchicalClustering(), we must copy the features into
node property maps which are compatible with the RAG data structure:
\code
// copy superpixel features into NodeMaps to be passed to hierarchicalClustering()
RAG::NodeMap<TinyVector<float, 3>> meanColor(rag);
RAG::NodeMap<unsigned int> regionSize(rag);
for(unsigned int k=0; k<=max_label; ++k) // max_label was returned from watershedsMultiArray()
{
meanColor[k] = get<Mean>(features, k);
regionSize[k] = get<Count>(features, k);
}
\endcode
\section ClusteringTutorial Perform Hierarchical Clustering
Now we have collected all information needed to perform agglomerative clustering.
We pass the superpixel adjacency graph and its feature maps to the clustering
function, and it returns the cluster assignment in a new property map
\a nodeLabels that assigns to every RAG node the ID of the cluster the node belongs
to. Thus, \a nodeLabels plays exactly the same role for the RAG as \a labelArray
did for the grid graph. Cluster IDs are identical to the node IDs of arbitrarly
chosen cluster representatives, i.e. they form a sparse subset of the original IDs.
\code
// customize parameters of the clustering algorithm
float beta = 0.5f; // importance of node features relative to edge weights
float wardness = 0.8f; // importance of cluster size
int numClusters = 30; // desired number of resulting regions (clusters)
// create a node map for the new (clustered) region labels and perform
// clustering to remove unimportant watershed edges
RAG::NodeMap<unsigned int> nodeLabels(rag);
hierarchicalClustering(rag, // input: the superpixel adjacency graph
edgeWeights, edgeLengths, meanColor, regionSize, // features
nodeLabels, // output: a cluster labeling of the RAG
ClusteringOptions().minRegionCount(numClusters)
.nodeFeatureImportance(beta)
.sizeImportance(wardness)
.nodeFeatureMetric(metrics::L2Norm)
);
\endcode
The details of the clustering algorithm can be customized by the option object
\ref vigra::ClusteringOptions. Here, we set the termination criterion \a numClusters,
the relative importance of node features and sizes (\a beta and \a wardness) and the
norm to be used to compute node feature dissimiliarity. Option objects like this are
a common idiom in the VIGRA library, because code readability matters.
Finally, we replace the original superpixel labels in \a labelArray with the new cluster
labels from \a nodeLabels and visualize the resulting region boundaries, this time
with a green overlay on the enlarged input image:
\code
// update label image with the new labels
transformMultiArray(labelArray, labelArray,
[&nodeLabels](unsigned int oldlabel)
{
return nodeLabels[oldlabel];
});
// visualize the salient edges as a green overlay
regionImageToCrackEdgeImage(labelArray, imageArrayBig,
RGBValue<float>( 0, 255, 0), EdgeOverlayOnly);
\endcode
\image html bears_segmentation.png
*/
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