Abstract
This paper presents the latest developments and possible new directions for future work in standardisation of Visual Signature Tools within the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). The tools, which include the Image Signature descriptor and the recently completed Video Signature descriptor, form a part of the MPEG-7 specification. They enable fast and robust detection of duplicate or derived visual media content, images and videos. Descriptors of this type are sometimes also referred to as fingerprints or robust hashes. Here we mainly focus on introducing the technology behind the recently completed Video Signature Tools and describe some recent developments and demonstration applications for the Image Signature Tools. Finally, we briefly present MPEG exploratory investigations on requirements of searching for different images containing the same visual objects within the mobile visual search framework.