perm filename REPR[DOC,TOB]1 blob
sn#010149 filedate 1972-07-15 generic text, type T, neo UTF8
00100 It is now more or less accepted that a representation like
00200 that of Agin, Nevatia and Binford is a prime candidate for
00300 a system representation for complex objects. The question
00400 of representation of cross sections is most clearly resolved
00500 in terms of that doctrine.
00600
00700 If we believe the doctrine, the representation of areas in
00800 two dimensions is a representation problem of the same sort
00900 in one lower dimension. The first step is segmentation
01000 with cutting and pasting. The choice of primitive elements
01100 is now raised in two dimensions instead of three. The doctrine
01200 tells us to look for a cross-section defined along a space curve.
01300 That cross-section is one-dimensional, a line, and the space
01400 curve is defined in two dimensions. Of course, circles would
01500 be added as a primitive.
01600
01700 When we look at the alternate forms of representation, they might be:
01800 1. expansions (spline,Fourier,moments....)
01900 2. spatial domain tables (r vs theta)
02000 3. templates, with modifications
02100 4. feature list (not closely organized)
02200 5. boundary curve (trouble with closure-leads to syntax)
02300 We have agreed that splines and other expansions are of dubious value for
02400 recognition and similarity operations. They also tend to be associated with
02500 unarticulated descriptions. Spatial domain tables are rather alike. They
02600 also can be useful in special cases. They do have some advantages in not
02700 losing locality. Saying templates is not enough. We must specify their
02800 representation, which must be one of those techniques. Feature lists are
02900 a vague way of pointing at the extreme form of network descriptions. All
03000 our representations will be some network. Whether the arcs are set properties
03100 or geometrical measurements is significant. If we try to get along with
03200 set membership (MUST-HAVE) or boolean geometrical properties (LEFT-OF)
03300 then we will not do well.
03400 Finally, we have the boundary curve representation. We make a comparison
03500 between representing an area by its boundary(curve), and representing a volume
03600 by its boundary (surface). We contend that in three dimensions for strong
03700 and profound reasons, that representing volume is the right thing to do,
03800 not represent the cuts in the volume. The same thing is true for two dimensions,
03900 that we must represent the area and not the cuts in two dimensions. There
04000 are quite important properties which are not well-expressed by surface
04100 representations in three-dimensions and curve representations in two dimensions
04200 which do have simple expression in the cross section representation.
04300 To give an example from two dimensions, which has an obvious counterpart in
04400 three dimensions. Suppose I want to describe polygons by a curve description.
04500 Nothing easier. I have a string, L1,A1,L2,A2,L3,A3,...
04600 of lengths Li and angles Ai. Now I just make up a grammar and we win big.
04700 Question: does a string make a realizable polygon, does it cross and does
04800 it close? Question: where is a thin part to pick up the object? How would
04900 I make up an approximate description of lesser quality-is it still realizable?
05000 We see that those are non-local computations with the boundary string description
05100 but that they are better behaved with the cross section along an axis
05200 representation. That is, to see that the axis does not cross is a global
05300 property, but we can use local properties to answer local questions:
05400 is the shape locally realizable? where is the shape thin?