Geons
Geons are the basic volumetric components proposed in the Recognition-by-Components (RBC) theory of object recognition, introduced by Irving Biederman in 1987. In RBC, complex shapes are understood as assemblies of a finite set of geons, which are assumed to be invariant to viewpoint and lighting. Geons are simple 3D geometric shapes—such as cylinders, cones, spheres, wedges, and prisms—or simple combinations of these shapes. The theory posits a finite set of geons that can be combined and arranged to form the variety of everyday objects.
Recognition proceeds by extracting the edges and other cues from an image, identifying the geon constituents,
Strengths and criticisms: RBC accounts for rapid recognition of many man-made objects from partial or degraded
Impact: Geons influenced cognitive psychology, computer vision, and neuroscience by proposing a tangible mechanism for viewpoint-invariant
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