Spatial pooling in computer vision refers to a process in neural networks, particularly in convolutional neural networks (CNNs), that reduces the spatial size of the input feature maps. The primary goal is to decrease the computational load and the number of parameters, while retaining the important features in the data. Spatial pooling, typically achieved through operations like max pooling or average pooling, helps make the network more efficient by summarizing the presence of features in certain regions. For example, in max pooling, the highest value in a small patch of the feature map is selected, and in average pooling, the average value is computed. This reduces the resolution of the feature maps, making the network less sensitive to small spatial translations of the input. Spatial pooling is used in many computer vision applications, such as object detection or image classification, where it's important to recognize the presence of features without being overly concerned with their exact location in the image. It also helps prevent overfitting by generalizing the learned features.
What is spatial pooling in computer vision?

- Natural Language Processing (NLP) Basics
- Accelerated Vector Search
- AI & Machine Learning
- The Definitive Guide to Building RAG Apps with LangChain
- Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) 101
- All learn series →
Recommended AI Learn Series
VectorDB for GenAI Apps
Zilliz Cloud is a managed vector database perfect for building GenAI applications.
Try Zilliz Cloud for FreeKeep Reading
What are CV/ML algorithms?
Computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML) algorithms are essential for processing and understanding visual data. CV
Are there cases where Manhattan distance or Hamming distance are useful for vector search, and how do these metrics differ in computational cost or index support compared to Euclidean/Cosine?
**Manhattan and Hamming Distance Use Cases**
Manhattan (L1) distance is useful when features have inherent sparsity or
How does real-time search work?
Real-time search enables users to find the most current information as quickly as possible. It works by continuously ind