A fuzzy ontology strategy for multimedia data management

Providing users with easy access to interesting information is one important goal of information retrieval. However, traditional information retrieval techniques are not suitable for ecological database queries since users are unable to clearly describe the target features. To overcome the problem, an information retrieval system running on handheld devices allowing users to issue queries according to their perceptions or impressions of the target bird is proposed. Six visual features allow users to express their visual perception of a bird and the query will be formulated based on the chosen features. Texture descriptions are also used when searching for the target in the bird database. A bird-information ontology based on the biodiversity is exploited to extend the search space. The methodology is illustrated in this paper. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the strategy and its applicability in other domains.