Combined query embroidery image retrieval based on enhanced CNN and blend transformer

Abstract Embroidery images carry rich historical information and are an important form of embroidery art. In the field of combination query image retrieval, how to efficiently retrieve the embroidery image information required by users has become a current research challenge. In recent years, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved significant success in image feature extraction, but they tend to focus on local information, making it easy to ignore global context information when processing such textured embroidery images. Therefore, we propose a combination query retrieval method for embroidery images. First, we propose Blend-Transformer, which introduces Group External Attention (GEA). GEA can integrate feature information from three different dimensions, effectively capturing the local and global context information of embroidery images. Second, we propose Enhanced CNN, which introduces Shuffle Attention (SA), regrouping the reference image features extracted by CNN and reaggregating them by channel to enhance the richness of embroidery image feature information. Through experiments on the TCE-S and ICR2020 standard datasets, we verify the excellent performance of the proposed algorithm in embroidery image retrieval. Our method fills the gap in embroidery image retrieval research and provides a new perspective for the protection of embroidery art.