Efficient Search in a Panoramic Image Database for Long-term Visual Localization

In this work, we focus on a localization technique that is based on image retrieval. In this technique, database images are kept with GPS coordinates and the geographic location of the retrieved database image serves as an approximate position of the query image. In our scenario, database consists of panoramic images (e.g. Google Street View) and query images are collected with a standard field-of-view camera in a different time. While searching the match of a perspective query image in a panoramic image database, unlike previous studies, we do not generate a number of perspective images from the panoramic image. Instead, taking advantage of CNNs, we slide a search window in the last convolutional layer belonging to the panoramic image and compute the similarity with the descriptor extracted from the query image. In this way, more locations are visited in less amount of time. We conducted experiments with state-of-the-art descriptors and results reveal that the proposed sliding window approach reaches higher accuracy than generating 4 or 8 perspective images.