Functional Maps: A Flexible Representation of Maps (with Applications)

In this talk, I will discuss the basic properties of the functional representation for maps between pairs of shapes. This representation generalizes the standard notion of a map to include correspondences that are not necessarily point-to-point, and yet allows for efficient inference (shape matching) while at the same time enabling a number of applications, including algebraic map manipulation such as computing map sums and differences. I will describe the main properties of this representation and give a few examples of applications that include finding correspondences across shapes, map visualization, and map analysis.