Automatic Maya Hieroglyph Retrieval Using Shape and Context Information

We propose an automatic Maya hieroglyph retrieval method integrating shape and glyph context information. Two recent local shape descriptors, Gradient Field Histogram of Orientation Gradient (GF-HOG) and Histogram of Orientation Shape Context (HOOSC), are evaluated. To encode the context information, we propose to convert each Maya glyph block into a first-order Markov chain and apply the co-occurrence of neighbouring glyphs. The retrieval results obtained based on visual matching are therefore re-ranked. Experimental results show that our method can significantly improve the glyph retrieval accuracy even with a basic co-occurrence model. Furthermore, two unique glyph datasets are contributed which can be used as novel shape benchmarks in future research.