Abstract: A method and system for indexing and retrieving database objects, such as images, include a database manager which initializes database objects based on vectors for values of quantified features associated with the database objects. Similar database objects are grouped into common clusters that are based on system-perceived relationships among the objects. For each search session, a vector for a search query is calculated and database objects from the closest cluster within feature space are selected for presentation at a user device. The user indicates which of the selected objects are relevant to the search session and which of the objects are irrelevant. If one of the clusters includes both relevant and irrelevant objects, the cluster is split into two clusters, so that one of the resulting clusters includes the relevant objects and the other cluster includes irrelevant objects. The correlation matrix is updated to indicate that the resulting clusters have a weak correlation.