Toward a logical reconstruction of image retrieval

The paper addresses a fundamental problem for image retrieval systems: how is the content information to be used in answering user queries? Our answer to this question is a retrieval model based on logic that offers: (a) an abstract representation of the visual appearance of an image allowing to incorporate in a principled way any image retrieval technique based on the similarity of physical features such as region, color, and shape: (b) a semantic data modeling styled representation of the image content, independent from how the content information is obtained; (c) a functional representation of the association between portions of the image form and content objects. These three-leveled image representations are queried via a logical language spanning along four dimensions: the visual dimension, in which queries are images themselves, and the content, mapping, and spatial dimensions, in which queries are symbolic expressions. An image is retrieved in response to a query if it satisfies, in a logical sense, the query.