Flip an Image Horizontally or Vertically

Task: Image Flipping

Image flipping is a fundamental operation in computer vision, commonly used for data augmentation in deep learning. In this task, you will implement a function flip_image(image, direction) that flips an image either horizontally (left-right) or vertically (top-bottom).

Input:

• image: A 2D list/array (grayscale) or 3D list/array (RGB/color) representing an image
• direction: A string specifying the flip direction - either 'horizontal' or 'vertical'

Output:

• Return the flipped image as a nested list
• Return -1 for invalid inputs

Edge Cases to Handle:

• Input is not a valid 2D or 3D array
• Empty image dimensions
• Invalid direction string (anything other than 'horizontal' or 'vertical')

import numpy as np

def flip_image(image, direction):
    """
    Flip an image horizontally or vertically.
    
    Args:
        image: 2D or 3D list/array representing a grayscale or RGB image
        direction: string, either 'horizontal' or 'vertical'
    
    Returns:
        Flipped image as a nested list, or -1 if input is invalid
    """
    # Your code here
    pass