Stereo correspondence using efficient hierarchical belief propagation

In this paper, a new algorithm is presented to compute the disparity map from a stereo pair of images by using Belief Propagation (BP). While many algorithms have been proposed in recent years, the real-time computation of an accurate disparity map is still a challenging task. The computation time and run-time memory requirements are two very important factors for all real-time applications. The proposed algorithm divides the matching process into two steps; they are initial matching and disparity map refinement. Initial matching is performed by memory efficient hierarchical belief propagation algorithm that uses less than half memory at run-time and minimizes the energy function at much faster rate as compare to other hierarchical BP algorithms that makes it more suitable for real-time applications. Disparity map refinement uses a simple but very effective single-pass approach that improves the accuracy without affecting the computation cost. Experiments by using Middlebury dataset demonstrate that the performance of our algorithm is the best among other real-time stereo matching algorithms.     

Stochastic stereo matching over scale

A stochastic optimization approach to stereo matching is presented. Unlike conventional correlation matching and feature matching, the method provides a dense array of disparities, eliminating the need for interpolation. First, the stereo-matching problem is defined in terms of finding a disparity map that satisfies two competing constraints: (1) matched points should have similar image intensity, and (2) the disparity map should vary as slowly as possible. These constraints are interpreted as specifying the potential energy of a system of oscillators. Ground states are approximated by a new variant of simulated annealing, which has two important features. First, the microcanonical ensemble is simulated using a new algorithm that is more efficient and more easily implemented than the familiar Metropolis algorithm (which simulates the canonical ensemble). Secondly, it uses a hierarchical, coarse-to-fine control structure employing Gaussian or Laplacian pyramids of the stereo images. In this way, quickly computed results at low resolutions are used to initialize the system at higher resolutions.Support for this work was provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under contracts DCA 76-85-C-0004 and MDA 903-83-C-0084.     

Hierarchical stereo matching with image bit-plane slicing

We propose a new stereo matching framework based on image bit-plane slicing. A pair of image sequences with various intensity quantization levels constructed by taking different bit-rate of the images is used for hierarchical stereo matching. The basic idea is to use the low bit-rate image pairs to compute rough disparity maps. The hierarchical matching strategy is then carried out iteratively to update the low confident disparities with the information provided by extra image bit-planes. It is shown that, depending on the stereo matching algorithms, even the image pairs with low intensity quantization are able to produce fairly good disparity results. Consequently, variate bit-rate matching is performed only regionally in the images for each iteration, and the average image bit-rate for disparity computation is reduced. Our method provides a hierarchical matching framework and can be combined with the existing stereo matching algorithms. Experiments on Middlebury datasets show that the proposed technique gives good results compared to the conventional full bit-rate matching.     

融合边缘保持与改进代价聚合的立体匹配算法

目的 立体匹配是计算机双目视觉的重要研究方向,主要分为全局匹配算法与局部匹配算法两类。传统的局部立体匹配算法计算复杂度低,可以满足实时性的需要,但是未能充分利用图像的边缘纹理信息,因此在非遮挡、视差不连续区域的匹配精度欠佳。为此,提出了融合边缘保持与改进代价聚合的立体匹配。方法 首先利用图像的边缘空间信息构建权重矩阵,与灰度差绝对值和梯度代价进行加权融合,形成新的代价计算方式,同时将边缘区域像素点的权重信息与引导滤波的正则化项相结合,并在多分辨率尺度的框架下进行代价聚合。所得结果经过视差计算,得到初始视差图,再通过左右一致性检测、加权中值滤波等视差优化步骤获得最终的视差图。结果 在Middlebury立体匹配平台上进行实验,结果表明,融合边缘权重信息对边缘处像素点的代价量进行了更加有效地区分,能够提升算法在各区域的匹配精度。其中,未加入视差优化步骤的21组扩展图像对的平均误匹配率较改进前减少3.48%,峰值信噪比提升3.57 dB,在标准4幅图中venus上经过视差优化后非遮挡区域的误匹配率仅为0.18%。结论 融合边缘保持的多尺度立体匹配算法有效提升了图像在边缘纹理处的匹配精度,进一步降低了非遮挡区域与视差不连续区域的误匹配率。     

基于区域间协同优化的立体匹配算法

提出了一种基于分割区域间协同优化的立体匹配算法. 该算法以图像区域为匹配基元, 利用区域的彩色特征以及相邻区域间应满足的平滑和遮挡关系定义了区域的匹配能量函数, 并引入区域之间的合作竞争机制, 通过协同优化使所定义的匹配能量极小化, 从而得到比较理想的视差结果. 算法首先对参考图像进行分割, 利用相关法得到各分割区域的初始匹配; 然后用平面模型对各区域的视差进行拟合, 得到各区域的视差平面参数; 最后, 基于协同优化的思想, 采用局部优化的方法对各区域的视差平面参数进行迭代优化, 直至得到比较合理的视差图为止. 采用Middlebury test set进行的实验结果表明, 该方法在性能上可以和目前最好的立体匹配算法相媲美, 得到的视差结果接近于真实视差.     

Discrete signal matching using coarse-to-fine wavelet basis functions

In this paper, we propose a matching algorithm to estimate accurate and dense displacements between two signals. The displacements are characterized by a coarse-to-fine wavelet representation, which is a linear combination of hierarchical basis functions developed by Cai and Wang (SIAM Numer. Anal. 33(3) (1996) 937). The coarser-scale basis function has larger support while the finer-scale basis function has smaller support. During the iterative minimization process, the basis functions are utilized as large-to-small windows in selecting global-to-local regions for signal matching. The estimated wavelet coefficients are then used to reconstruct the signal in a coarse-to-fine manner. Two sets of synthetic examples, one with small displacement and the other with large displacements, have been employed to illustrate the advantages of the wavelet-based method. This method has been applied to estimate the dense disparity between stereo images in several real examples and the results demonstrate its effectiveness.     

一种基于光流和能量的图像匹配算法

结合光流与图像信息,提出一种获取稠密视差的图像匹配算法.首先对于基线较大的左右图像,在多分辨率框架下采用由粗到精的策略计算光流,从而实现大偏移量时的光流获取.其次为了避免光流在图像边界上的不可靠性,通过光流计算所得的光流场作为初始视差图,采用基于能量的方法依据对应的图像梯度场对光流场内部进行平滑并保持边缘的不连续性,最终得到精准稠密的视差图.实验验证,该方法是一种行之有效的图像匹配算法.     

A Motion Stereo Method Based on Coarse-to-Fine Control Strategy

This correspondence presents a motion stereo method based on coarse-to-fine control strategy. A camera sliding straight takes images that form a set of stereo pairs. The matching proceeds from the shortest baseline pair to the longest baseline pair, using the disparity map already obtained to guide in searching for the next pair.     

基于自适应匹配窗及多特征融合的立体匹配*

针对局部立体匹配方法中存在的匹配窗口大小选择困难、边缘处视差模糊及弱纹理区域、斜面或曲面匹配精度较低等问题,提出基于CIELAB空间下色度分割的自适应窗选取及多特征融合的局部立体匹配算法.首先,在CIELAB空间上对立体图像对进行色度分割,依据同质区域的分布获取初始匹配支持域,同时估计遮挡区域,更新匹配支持域.然后,基于更新后的匹配支持域,采用自适应权值的线性加权多特征融合匹配方法得到初始视差图.最后,利用左右视差一致性检测方法进行误匹配检验,利用基于分割的均值滤波器进行视差优化及细化,得到稠密匹配视差结果.实验表明文中算法有效,匹配精度较高,尤其在弱纹理区域及斜面等情况下匹配效果较好.     

Multiresolution Hough transform-an efficient method of detectingpatterns in images

A new multiresolution coarse-to-fine search algorithm for efficient computation of the Hough transform is proposed. The algorithm uses multiresolution images and parameter arrays. Logarithmic range reduction is proposed to achieve faster convergence. Discretization errors are taken into consideration when accumulating the parameter array. This permits the use of a very simple peak detection algorithm. Comparative results using three peak detection methods are presented. Tests on synthetic and real-world images show that the parameters converge rapidly toward the true value. The errors in ρ and &thetas;, as well as the computation time, are much lower than those obtained by other methods. Since the multiresolution Hough transform (MHT) uses a simple peak detection algorithm, the computation time will be significantly lower than other algorithms if the time for peak detection is also taken into account. The algorithm can be generalized for patterns with any number of parameters     

Stereo matching using iterative reliable disparity map expansion in the color–spatial–disparity space

In this paper, we propose a new stereo matching algorithm using an iterated graph cuts and mean shift filtering technique. Our algorithm estimates the disparity map progressively through the following two steps. In the first step, with a previously estimated RDM (reliable disparity map) that consists of sparse ground control points, an updated dense disparity map is constructed through a RDM constrained energy minimization framework that can cope with occlusion. The graph cuts technique is employed for the solution of the proposed energy model. In the second step, more accurate and denser RDM is estimated through the disparity crosschecking technique and the mean shift filtering in the CSD (color–spatial–disparity) space. The proposed algorithm expands the reliable disparities in RDM repeatedly through the above two steps until it converges. Experimental results on the standard data set demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves comparable performance to the state-of-the-arts, and gives excellent results especially in the areas such as the disparity discontinuous boundaries and occluded regions, where the conventional methods usually suffer.     

A hybrid approach for stereo disparity computation

An alternative, hybrid approach for disparity estimation, based on the phase difference technique, is presented. The proposed technique combines the robustness of the matching method with the sub-pixel accuracy of the phase difference approach. A matching between the phases of the left and right signals is introduced in order to allow the phase difference method to work in a reduced disparity range. In this framework, a new criterion to detect signal singularities is proposed. The presented test cases show that the performance of the proposed technique in terms of accuracy and density of the disparity estimates has greatly improved. Received: 24 June 1997 / Accepted: 15 September 1998     

GPU近实时线性双目立体代价聚合

目的 近年来双目视觉领域的研究重点逐步转而关注其“实时化”策略的研究,而立体代价聚合是双目视觉中最为复杂且最为耗时的步骤,为此,提出一种基于GPU通用计算(GPGPU)技术的近实时双目立体代价聚合算法。方法 选用一种匹配精度接近于全局匹配算法的局部算法——线性立体匹配算法(linear stereo matching)作为代价聚合策略;结合线性代价聚合的原理,对其主要步骤(代价计算、均值滤波及系数求解等)的计算流程进行有针对性地并行优化。结果 对于相同的实验样本,用本文方法在NVIDA GTX780 实验平台上能在更短的时间计算出代价矩阵,与原有的CPU实现方法相比,代价聚合的效率平均有了数十倍的提升。结论 实时双目立体代价聚合方法,为在个人通用PC平台上实时获取高质量双目视觉深度信息提供了一个高效可靠的途径。     

A sub-pixel stereo matching algorithm and its applications in fabric imaging

In this paper, we describe a sub-pixel stereo matching algorithm where disparities are iteratively refined within a regularization framework. We choose normalized cross-correlation as the matching metric, and perform disparity refinement based on correlation gradients, which is distinguished from intensity gradient-based methods. We propose a discontinuity-preserving regularization technique which utilizes local coherence in the disparity space image, instead of estimating discontinuities in the intensity images. A concise numerical solution is derived by parameterizing the disparity space with dense bicubic B-splines. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm performs better than correlation fitting methods without regularization. The algorithm has been implemented for applications in fabric imaging. We have shown its potentials in wrinkle evaluation, drape measurement, and pilling assessment.     

Fast spatial–temporal stereo matching for 3D face reconstruction under speckle pattern projection

Three-dimensional (3D) face reconstruction can be tackled in either measurement-based means or model-based means. The former requires special hardwares or devices, such as structured light setups. This paper addresses 3D face reconstruction by measurement-based means, more specifically a special kind of structured light called space–time speckle projection. Under such a setup, we propose a novel and efficient spatial–temporal stereo scheme towards fast and accurate 3D face recovery. To improve the overall computational efficiency, our scheme consists of a series of optimization strategies including face-cropping-based stereo matching, coarse-to-fine stereo matching strategy applied to face areas, and spatial–temporal integral image (STII) for accelerating the matching cost computation. Based on the results, the proposed scheme is able to reconstruct a 3D face in hundreds of milliseconds on a normal PC, and its performance is validated both qualitatively and quantitatively.     

A coarse-to-fine disparity energy model with both phase-shift and position-shift receptive field mechanisms

Numerous studies suggest that the visual system uses both phase- and position-shift receptive field (RF) mechanisms for the processing of binocular disparity. Although the difference between these two mechanisms has been analyzed before, previous work mainly focused on disparity tuning curves instead of population responses. However, tuning curve and population response can exhibit different characteristics, and it is the latter that determines disparity estimation. Here we demonstrate, in the framework of the disparity energy model, that for relatively small disparities, the population response generated by the phase-shift mechanism is more reliable than that generated by the position-shift mechanism. This is true over a wide range of parameters, including the RF orientation. Since the phase model has its own drawbacks of underestimating large stimulus disparity and covering only a restricted range of disparity at a given scale, we propose a coarse-to-fine algorithm for disparity computation with a hybrid of phase-shift and position-shift components. In this algorithm, disparity at each scale is always estimated by the phase-shift mechanism to take advantage of its higher reliability. Since the phase-based estimation is most accurate at the smallest scale when the disparity is correspondingly small, the algorithm iteratively reduces the input disparity from coarse to fine scales by introducing a constant position-shift component to all cells for a given location in order to offset the stimulus disparity at that location. The model also incorporates orientation pooling and spatial pooling to further enhance reliability. We have tested the algorithm on both synthetic and natural stereo images and found that it often performs better than a simple scale-averaging procedure.     

A consensus sampling technique for fast and robust model fitting

In this paper, a new algorithm is proposed to improve the efficiency and robustness of random sampling consensus (RANSAC) without prior information about the error scale. Three techniques are developed in an iterative hypothesis-and-evaluation framework. Firstly, we propose a consensus sampling technique to increase the probability of sampling inliers by exploiting the feedback information obtained from the evaluation procedure. Secondly, the preemptive multiple K-th order approximation (PMKA) is developed for efficient model evaluation with unknown error scale. Furthermore, we propose a coarse-to-fine strategy for the robust standard deviation estimation to determine the unknown error scale. Experimental results of the fundamental matrix computation on both simulated and real data are shown to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm over the previous methods.     

一种基于会聚式体视模型的三维表面重建方法

本文在推导并简化会聚式体视模型视差公式的基础上,基于充分的生理依据,选取多尺度高斯微分滤波器滤波向量为匹配元,采用随机松弛方法的思想,设计了一个分层优化三维重建算法。算法利用双向匹配发现存在不利因素区域,随后对目标函数各项合理加权,从而改善了在该区域的重建效果。该算法能有效地直接产生密集的视差场,经实验验取得了良好的效果。