Feature detection is a fundamental issue in many intermediate level vision problems such as stereo, motion correspondence, image registration, etc. In this paper a new approach to feature detection is presented. It is based on a scale-interaction model of the end- inhibition property exhibited by certain cells in the visual cortex of mammals. These feature detector cells are responsive to short lines, line endings, corners and other such sharp changes in curvature. In addition, this method also provides a compact representation of feature information which is useful in shape recognition problems. Application to face recognition and motion correspondence are illustrated.