**Mingwei Wang 1,\*, Lang Gao 2, Xiaohui Huang 2, Ying Jiang <sup>3</sup> and Xianjun Gao <sup>4</sup>**


Received: 15 March 2019; Accepted: 16 May 2019; Published: 28 May 2019

**Abstract:** Texture classification is an important topic for many applications in machine vision and image analysis, and Gabor filter is considered one of the most efficient tools for analyzing texture features at multiple orientations and scales. However, the parameter settings of each filter are crucial for obtaining accurate results, and they may not be adaptable to different kinds of texture features. Moreover, there is redundant information included in the process of texture feature extraction that contributes little to the classification. In this paper, a new texture classification technique is detailed. The approach is based on the integrated optimization of the parameters and features of Gabor filter, and obtaining satisfactory parameters and the best feature subset is viewed as a combinatorial optimization problem that can be solved by maximizing the objective function using hybrid ant lion optimizer (HALO). Experimental results, particularly fitness values, demonstrate that HALO is more effective than the other algorithms discussed in this paper, and the optimal parameters and features of Gabor filter are balanced between efficiency and accuracy. The method is feasible, reasonable, and can be utilized for practical applications of texture classification.

**Keywords:** texture classification; Gabor filter; parameter optimization; feature selection; hybrid ant lion optimizer
