Reconstructing an image from its edge representation

Abstract

In this paper, we show that a new edge detection scheme developed from the notion of transition in nonlinear physics, associated with the precise computation of its quantitative parameters (most notably singularity exponents) provide enhanced performances in terms of reconstruction of the whole image from its edge representation; moreover it is naturally robust to noise. The study of biological vision in mammals state the fact that major information in an image is encoded in its edges, the idea further supported by neurophysics. The first conclusion that can be drawn from this stated fact is that of being able to reconstruct accurately an image from the compact representation of its edge pixels. The paper focuses on how the idea of edge completion can be assessed quantitatively from the framework of reconstructible systems when evaluated in a microcanonical formulation; and how it redefines the adequation of edge as candidates for compact representation. In the process of doing so, we also propose an algorithm for image reconstruction from its edge feature and show that this new algorithm outperforms the well-known ‘state-of-the-art’ techniques, in terms of compact representation, in majority of the cases.