An Artificial Imagination for Interactive Search

In this paper we take a look at the predominant form of human computer interaction as used in image retrieval, called interactive search, and discuss a new approach called artificial imagination. This approach addresses two of the grand challenges in this field as identified by the research community: reducing the amount of iterations before the user is satisfied and the small sample problem. Artificial imagination will deepen the level of interaction with the user by giving the computer the ability to think along by synthesizing (‘imagining’) example images that ideally match all or parts of the picture the user has in mind. We discuss two methods of how to synthesize new images, of which the evolutionary synthesis approach receives our main focus.