33. The program storage device of claim 32, wherein said retrieving further comprises the step of: computing the distances (D) between the k nearest neighbors in the identified cluster and the reduced dimensionality specified data as a function of an element index .delta..sup.2 where EQU .delta..sup.2 (template, element)=D.sup.2 (projected.sub.-- template, element)+.SIGMA..parallel.orthogonal.sub.-- complement.parallel..sup.2. 34.
32. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein said retrieving includes a nearest neighbor search, further comprising the steps of: searching the identified cluster for the k nearest neighbors to the projected specified data; determining if any other associated clusters can include any of k nearest neighbors to the projected specified data; and repeating said searching on said any clusters that can include any of the k nearest neighbors.