An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning

Image caption technology aims to convert visual features of images, extracted by computers, into meaningful semantic information. Therefore, the computers can generate text descriptions that resemble human perception, enabling tasks such as image classification, retrieval, and analysis. In recent ye...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tong Bai, Sen Zhou, Yu Pang, Jiasai Luo, Huiqian Wang, Ya Du
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1270850/full
_version_ 1797665931077353472
author Tong Bai
Sen Zhou
Yu Pang
Jiasai Luo
Huiqian Wang
Ya Du
author_facet Tong Bai
Sen Zhou
Yu Pang
Jiasai Luo
Huiqian Wang
Ya Du
author_sort Tong Bai
collection DOAJ
description Image caption technology aims to convert visual features of images, extracted by computers, into meaningful semantic information. Therefore, the computers can generate text descriptions that resemble human perception, enabling tasks such as image classification, retrieval, and analysis. In recent years, the performance of image caption has been significantly enhanced with the introduction of encoder-decoder architecture in machine translation and the utilization of deep neural networks. However, several challenges still persist in this domain. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel method to address the issue of visual information loss and non-dynamic adjustment of input images during decoding. We introduce a guided decoding network that establishes a connection between the encoding and decoding parts. Through this connection, encoding information can provide guidance to the decoding process, facilitating automatic adjustment of the decoding information. In addition, Dense Convolutional Network (DenseNet) and Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) are adopted in the image encoder, and Nested Long Short-Term Memory (NLSTM) is utilized as the decoder to enhance the extraction and parsing capability of image information during the encoding and decoding process. In order to further improve the performance of our image caption model, this study incorporates an attention mechanism to focus details and constructs a double-layer decoding structure, which facilitates the enhancement of the model in terms of providing more detailed descriptions and enriched semantic information. Furthermore, the Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) method is employed to train the model by directly optimizing the identical set of evaluation indexes, which solves the problem of inconsistent training and evaluation standards. Finally, the model is trained and tested on MS COCO and Flickr 30 k datasets, and the results show that the model has improved compared with commonly used models in the evaluation indicators such as BLEU, METEOR and CIDEr.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T19:51:13Z
format Article
id doaj.art-3da35ecc04c547aa8d75c835a3eb5293
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1662-453X
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T19:51:13Z
publishDate 2023-10-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Neuroscience
spelling doaj.art-3da35ecc04c547aa8d75c835a3eb52932023-10-05T06:44:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2023-10-011710.3389/fnins.2023.12708501270850An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learningTong Bai0Sen Zhou1Yu Pang2Jiasai Luo3Huiqian Wang4Ya Du5School of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, ChinaChongqing Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection, Chongqing, ChinaSchool of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, ChinaSchool of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, ChinaSchool of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, ChinaDepartment of Peripheral Vascular (Wound Repair), Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chongqing, ChinaImage caption technology aims to convert visual features of images, extracted by computers, into meaningful semantic information. Therefore, the computers can generate text descriptions that resemble human perception, enabling tasks such as image classification, retrieval, and analysis. In recent years, the performance of image caption has been significantly enhanced with the introduction of encoder-decoder architecture in machine translation and the utilization of deep neural networks. However, several challenges still persist in this domain. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel method to address the issue of visual information loss and non-dynamic adjustment of input images during decoding. We introduce a guided decoding network that establishes a connection between the encoding and decoding parts. Through this connection, encoding information can provide guidance to the decoding process, facilitating automatic adjustment of the decoding information. In addition, Dense Convolutional Network (DenseNet) and Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) are adopted in the image encoder, and Nested Long Short-Term Memory (NLSTM) is utilized as the decoder to enhance the extraction and parsing capability of image information during the encoding and decoding process. In order to further improve the performance of our image caption model, this study incorporates an attention mechanism to focus details and constructs a double-layer decoding structure, which facilitates the enhancement of the model in terms of providing more detailed descriptions and enriched semantic information. Furthermore, the Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) method is employed to train the model by directly optimizing the identical set of evaluation indexes, which solves the problem of inconsistent training and evaluation standards. Finally, the model is trained and tested on MS COCO and Flickr 30 k datasets, and the results show that the model has improved compared with commonly used models in the evaluation indicators such as BLEU, METEOR and CIDEr.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1270850/fullimage captionencoder-decoder architecturedeep neural networksattention mechanismdeep reinforcement learning
spellingShingle Tong Bai
Sen Zhou
Yu Pang
Jiasai Luo
Huiqian Wang
Ya Du
An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
Frontiers in Neuroscience
image caption
encoder-decoder architecture
deep neural networks
attention mechanism
deep reinforcement learning
title An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
title_full An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
title_fullStr An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
title_full_unstemmed An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
title_short An image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
title_sort image caption model based on attention mechanism and deep reinforcement learning
topic image caption
encoder-decoder architecture
deep neural networks
attention mechanism
deep reinforcement learning
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1270850/full
work_keys_str_mv AT tongbai animagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT senzhou animagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT yupang animagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT jiasailuo animagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT huiqianwang animagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT yadu animagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT tongbai imagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT senzhou imagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT yupang imagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT jiasailuo imagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT huiqianwang imagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning
AT yadu imagecaptionmodelbasedonattentionmechanismanddeepreinforcementlearning