Hough transform-based 3D mesh retrieval

This paper addresses the issue of 3D mesh indexation by using shape descriptors (SDs) under constraints of geometric and topological invariance. A new shape descriptor, the Optimized 3D Hough Transform Descriptor (O3DHTD) is here proposed. Intrinsically topologically stable, the O3DHTD is not invariant to geometric transformations. Nevertheless, we show mathematically how the O3DHTD can be optimally associated (in terms of compactness of representation and computational complexity) with a spatial alignment procedure which leads to a geometric invariant behavior. Experimental results have been carried out upon the MPEG-7 3D model database consisting of about 1300 meshes in VRML 2.0 format. Objective retrieval results, based upon the definition of a categorized ground truth subset, are reported in terms of Bull Eye Percentage (BEP) score and compared to those obtained by applying the MPEg-7 3D SD. It is shown that the O3DHTD outperforms the MPEg-7 3D SD of up to 28%.