Biologically Inspired Intensity and Depth Image Edge Extraction

In recent years, artificial vision research has moved from focusing on the use of only intensity images to include using depth images, or RGB-D combinations due to the recent development of low-cost depth cameras. However, depth images require a lot of storage and processing requirements. In addition, it is challenging to extract relevant features from depth images in real time. Researchers have sought inspiration from biology in order to overcome these challenges resulting in biologically inspired feature extraction methods. By taking inspiration from nature, it may be possible to reduce redundancy, extract relevant features, and process an image efficiently by emulating biological visual processes. In this paper, we present a depth and intensity image feature extraction approach that has been inspired by biological vision systems. Through the use of biologically inspired spiking neural networks, we emulate functional computational aspects of biological visual systems. The results demonstrate that the proposed bioinspired artificial vision system has increased performance over existing computer vision feature extraction approaches.