Parallel approaches to the segmentation of free-hand drawings

• Published in: Proceedings of EUROMICRO 96. 22nd Euromicro Conference. Beyond 2000: Hardware and Software Design Strategies pp. 537 - 542
• Main Authors: Canham, R.C., Smith, S.L., Tyrrell, A.M.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 1996
• Subjects: Algorithm design and analysis; Humans; Image analysis; Image processing; Image segmentation; Joining processes; Psychology; Roads; Shape; Testing
• ISBN: 0818674873; 9780818674877
• ISSN: 1089-6503
• DOI: 10.1109/EURMIC.1996.546480

This paper describes the initial steps in the development of a parallel approach to the segmentation of free-hand drawings as part of a subject's neuropsychological assessment. The drawings to be segmented are responses to the widely used Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test which comprises a number of simple geometric shapes such as rectangles and triangles with connecting lines. The need for a parallel approach in the segmentation of the drawings is discussed and a hierarchical solution proposed which reduces substantially the processing time required to perform the operation. Results are presented for a first approach to the segmentation and identification of substructures within the drawing based on a modified simple template matching algorithm. The results are promising but underline the complexity of segmenting such freehand line drawings.