Hierarchical decomposition and axial shape description

A method for producing a segmented axial description of a given shape together with a hierarchical decomposition of the shape into its parts is presented. The novelty of this approach lies in the combination of several competing approaches and tools into a unified scheme and an efficient implementation producing natural descriptions. Smooth local symmetries are used for the axial description of parts, which are suggested by curvature sign changes. Parallel symmetries are used to provide information on global relationships within the shape. This information is used for parsing shape into a hierarchy of parts. This approach uses both region and contour information, can handle shapes with corners, and addresses the issue of local versus global information, the issue of scale, and the notion of part. The method is computationally efficient, robust, and stable. Results that show that it provides an intuitive shape description are included