The present invention relates to a system, method, and computer program product for recognition objects in a domain which combines feature-based object classification with efficient search mechanisms based on swarm intelligence. The present invention utilizes a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and a possibilistic particle swarm optimization algorithm (PPSO), which are effective for optimization of a wide range of functions. PSO searches a multi-dimensional solution space using a population of "software agents" in which each software agent has its own velocity vector. PPSO allows different groups of software agents (i.e., particles) to work together with different temporary search goals that change in different phases of the algorithm. Each agent is a self-contained classifier that interacts and cooperates with other classifier agents to optimize the classifier confidence level. By performing this optimization, the swarm simultaneously finds objects in the scene, determines their size, and optimizes the classifier parameters.