A new generalized learning vector quantization algorithm

A new approach to data clustering which is capable of detecting clusters of different shapes is proposed. In classical clustering approaches, it is a great challenge to separate clusters if the cluster prototypes are difficult to represent by a mathematical formula. In this paper, we propose an improved learning vector quantization (LVQ) algorithm using the concept of symmetry. Through several computer simulations, the results show that the proposed method with random initialization is effective in detecting linear, spherical and ellipsoidal clusters. Besides, this method can also solve the crossed question.