METHOD AND DEVICE FOR RETRIEVAL, DEVICE FOR IMAGE RETRIEVAL, DEVICE FOR SOUND RETRIEVAL, AND DEVICE FOR WORD AND PHRASE RETRIEVAL

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image retrieving device which suitably retrieves an image with efficiency.;SOLUTION: When a user inputs retrieval images among retrieval images arranged in a virtual space for display as retrieval key images, a retrieval image matching an image common to those retrieval key images is retrieved from retrieval images in an image database 44 according to pieces of feature information and weighting information corresponding to the inputted different retrieval key images. When no desired image is retrieved as a result, specific items having the same values or close values obtained by weighing the values of respective items of the pieces of feature information corresponding to the different retrieval key images inputted as retrieval keys and the corresponding values of the pieces of weighting information as specified are selected out of the items of the pieces of feature information and the pieces of weighting information corresponding to the retrieval key images are updated so that values of the selected specific items can greatly contribute to the following retrieval.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2002,JPO