Flexible computation of shape symmetries within the maximal disk paradigm

Shape symmetries, like medial axes , contain a wealth of information useful in engineering and many different models for symmetry computation have been proposed. We present the hybrid symmetry transform (HST) as a compactly reformulated version of the maximal disk methods. HST is inspired by shunting inhibition networks and general concepts in wave dynamics. Through adjusting a shunting coefficient, the strength of adherence to the maximal disk paradigm becomes tunable. Each image location is scanned with a set of concentric rings which are then combined via weighted (shunting) summation, as opposed to the winner-takes-all approach in strict maximal disk methods. The new model is simple yet operates flexibly to compute maximal disk symmetries in a variety of conditions, interpreted as different wave propagation modes.