Environmental object recognition in a natural image: an experimental approach using geographic object based image analysis (GEOBIA)

Natural images, which are filled with intriguing stimuli of spatial objects, represent our cognition and are rich in spatial information. Accurate extraction of spatial objects is challenging due to the associated spatial and spectral complexities in the object recognition. In this paper, we tackle the problem of spatial object extraction in a GEOgraphic Object Based Image Analysis framework taking psychological and mathematical complexities into account. In doing so, we experimented with human and GEOBIA based recognition and segmentation in an image of an area of natural importance, the Ventoux Mountain, France. Focus was given to scales, colour, and texture properties at multiple levels in delineating the candidate spatial objects from the natural image. Such objects along with the original image were provided to the human subjects in two stages and three different groups of samples. The result of two stages were collated and analysed. The analysis showed that there exist different ways to comprehend the geographical objects according to prior knowledge.