distance transforms of sampled functions - brown cs.pdfVIP

THEORY OF COMPUTING, Volume 8 (2012), pp. 415–428 Distance Transforms of Sampled Functions Pedro F. Felzenszwalb Daniel P. Huttenlocher Received: December 18, 2009; revised: May 30, 2012; published: September 2, 2012. Abstract: We describe linear-time algorithms for solving a class of problems that involve transforming a cost function on a grid using spatial information. These problems can be viewed as a generalization of classical distance transforms of binary images, where the binary image is replaced by an arbitrary function on a grid. Alternatively they can be viewed in terms of the minimum convolution of two functions, which is an important operation in grayscale morphology. A consequence of our techniques is a simple and fast method for computing the Euclidean distance transform of a binary image. Our algorithms are also applicable to Viterbi decoding, belief propagation, and optimal control. ACM Classification: F.2.1, I.4 AMS Classification: 68T45, 68W40 Key words and phrases: distance transform, minimum convolution, image processing 1 Introduction Distance transforms are an important tool in computer vision, image processing and pattern recognition. A distance transform of a binary image specifies the distance from each pixel to the nearest “on” pixel. Distance transforms play a central role in the comparison of binary images, particularly for images resulting from local feature detection techniques such as edge or corner detection. For example, both the Chamfer [6] and Hausdorff [16] matching approaches make use of distance transforms in comparing binary images. Distance transforms are also used to compute the medial axis (boundaries of Voronoi cells) of digital shapes [4]. In this paper we consider a generalization of distance transform