Image retrieval by semantic content

In this subchapter, the approach adopted in MULTOS for the retrieval of documents based on image content is presented. With this image retrieval mechanism, images contained in documents become active components, as are data attributes and text, in the formulation and processing of queries on documents. The query c1auses concerning document images give conditions on the objects shown in the images. Image retrieval, as part of the document query processing, is based on access structures representing the content of the images. These image access structures are obtained from a specific image analysis. In this subchapter, the different phases of the image analysis process, which is specific to an application domain described in advance to the system, are outlined. Both pictorial and graphical images are represented using a structural approach and are interpreted according to the theory of evidence