A visual image retrieval system is provided. The system includes an image database for storing images. The system also includes a preprocessor communicatively linked to the image database for segmenting the images and generating based upon segmented images a region-of-interest (ROI) extraction output. Additionally, the system includes an ROI feature extraction module for computing ROI feature vectors based upon the output, and a global feature extraction module for computing global feature vectors based upon the output. The system further includes an ROI feature vectors database for storing the ROI feature vectors, and a global feature vectors database for storing the global feature vectors. The system also includes a perceptually-relevant image search machine (PRISM) interface for displaying query images and retrieved images, the retrieved images being retrieved in response to a user selecting at least one displayed query image. The system also includes a search-and-retrieval module for searching and retrieving stored images for display with the PRISM interface in response to a user selecting at least one displayed query image, and a global/ROI search module for selecting between a global search or an ROI search if more than one query image is selected, and for trigging the selected search.