A Three-Dimensional Shape Description Algorithm Based on Polar-Fourier Transform for 3D Model Retrieval

In the paper a new 3D shape representation algorithm is proposed — the Polar-Fourier 3D Shape Descriptor. Similarly to the Light Field Descriptor, the proposed method is based on rendering several two-dimensional projections of a 3D model, taken from various points of view. However, the proposed descriptor uses the 2D Polar-Fourier transform for obtained projections This enables the new descriptor to be more efficient in the recognition or retrieval of 3D models. In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm, it was experimentally compared with four other popular approaches — the Extended Gaussian Image, Shape Distributions, Shape Histogram and Light Field Descriptor — in the problem of 3D shape retrieval. The achieved results have shown that the new method outperforms the other four explored ones. The presented 3D shape descriptor can be used in representation, recognition and retrieval of 3D models.