A method for classifying physical objects includes: controlling, by a processor, one or more depth cameras to capture depth images of a query object; controlling, by the processor, one or more color cameras to capture a color images of the query object; computing, by the processor, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the query object using the depth images; combining, by the processor, the color images with the 3D model; computing, by the processor, a descriptor from the 3D model and the color images, the descriptor including: a multi-dimensional shape descriptor space representation of a 3D shape of the query object; a multi-dimensional color descriptor space representation of a texture of the query object; and a one-dimensional size descriptor space representation of a size of query object; supplying, by the processor, the descriptor to a classifier to compute a classification of the query object; and outputting the classification of the query object.