marshall@marshall.cs.unc.edu (Jonathan Marshall) (03/14/91)
**** Please do not re-post to other bboards. **** Papers available, hardcopy only. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ADAPTIVE NEURAL METHODS FOR MULTIPLEXING ORIENTED EDGES Jonathan A. Marshall Department of Computer Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Edge linearization operators are often used in computer vision and in neural network models of vision to reconstruct noisy or incomplete edges. Such operators gather evidence for the presence of an edge at various orientations across all image locations and then choose the orientation that best fits the data at each point. One disadvantage of such methods is that they often function in a winner-take-all fashion: the presence of only a single orientation can be represented at any point; multiple edges cannot be represented where they intersect. For example, the neural Boundary Contour System of Grossberg and Mingolla implements a form of winner-take-all competition between orthogonal orientations at each spatial location, to promote sharpening of noisy, uncertain image data. But that competition may produce rivalry, oscillation, instability, or mutual suppression when intersecting edges (e.g., a cross) are present. This "cross problem" exists for all techniques, including Markov Random Fields, where a representation of a chosen favored orientation suppresses representations of alternate orientations. A new adaptive technique, using both an inhibitory learning rule and an excitatory learning rule, weakens inhibition between neurons representing poorly correlated orientations. It may reasonably be assumed that neurons coding dissimilar orientations are less likely to be coactivated than neurons coding similar orientations. Multiplexing by superposition is ordinarily generated: combinations of intersecting edges become represented by simultaneous activation of multiple neurons, each of which represents a single supported oriented edge. Unsupported or weakly supported orientations are suppressed. The cross problem is thereby solved. [to appear in Proceedings of the SPIE Conference on Advances in Intelligent Systems, Boston, November 1990.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Also available: J.A. Marshall, "A Self-Organizing Scale-Sensitive Neural Network." In Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, San Diego, June 1990, Vol.III., pp.649-654. J.A. Marshall, "Self-Organizing Neural Networks for Perception of Visual Motion." Neural Networks, 3, pp.45-74 (1990). = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Jonathan A. Marshall marshall@cs.unc.edu = = Department of Computer Science = = CB 3175, Sitterson Hall = = University of North Carolina Office 919-962-1887 = = Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3175, U.S.A. Fax 919-962-1799 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = **** Please do not re-post to other bboards. ****