Neuro-probabilistic model for object tracking

Pattern Analysis and Applications - Occlusion is one of the major challenges for object tracking in real-life scenario. Various techniques in particle filter framework have been developed to solve...     

A visual attention model for robot object tracking

Inspired by human behaviors, a robot object tracking model is proposed on the basis of visual attention mechanism, which is fit for the theory of topological perception. The model integrates the image-driven, bottom-up attention and the object-driven, top-down attention, whereas the previous attention model has mostly focused on either the bottom-up or top-down attention. By the bottom-up component, the whole scene is segmented into the ground region and the salient regions. Guided by top-down strategy which is achieved by a topological graph, the object regions are separated from the salient regions. The salient regions except the object regions are the barrier regions. In order to estimate the model, a mobile robot platform is developed, on which some experiments are implemented. The experimental results indicate that processing an image with a resolution of 752*480 pixels takes less than 200ms and the object regions are unabridged. The analysis obtained by comparing the proposed model with the existing model demonstrates that the proposed model has some advantages in robot object tracking in terms of speed and efficiency.     

Pearson-based mixture model for color object tracking

To track objects in video sequences, many studies have been done to characterize the target with respect to its color distribution. Most often, the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is used to represent the object color density. In this paper, we propose to extend the normality assumption to more general families of distributions issued from the Pearson’s system. Precisely, we propose a method called Pearson mixture model (PMM), used in conjunction with Gaussian copula, which is dynamically updated to adapt itself to the appearance change of the object during the sequence. This model is combined with Kalman filtering to predict the position of the object in the next frame. Experimental results on gray-level and color video sequences show tracking improvements compared to classical GMM. Especially, the PMM seems robust to illumination variations, pose and scale changes, and also to partial occlusions, but its computing time is higher than the computing time of GMM.     

A probabilistic object tracking model based on condensation algorithm

Object tracking, which has many application in our daily life, is an important topic in electronics engineering area. It basically deals with estimation and location of an object in given video frames. In this paper, a novel object tracking algorithm based on particle filtering associate with population balances is proposed. The developed algorithm was used to track objects in synthetic frames and natural video frames. According to results, it has high accuracy level for single and multi-object tracking.     

目标跟踪中的四叉树分块模型

针对计算机视觉领域中,建立能够描述图像结构特性的目标模型问题,提出了一种基于四叉树分块的密度估计模型。采用四叉树分块方法对目标图像块进行划分,根据各分块的尺度和像素值统计特性建立局部的密度估计模型。实验结果和分析表明,基于四叉树分块的局部密度估计模型解决了全局密度估计模型无法描述结构特性的问题,而且用较少的分块数量有针对性地描述了目标的细节,同时简化了密度估计算法的计算过程,在目标跟踪应用中较其他算法表现出较优的性能。     

A multiple feature fused model for visual object tracking via correlation filters

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Common tracking algorithms only use a single feature to describe the target appearance, which makes the appearance model easily disturbed by noise. Furthermore,...     

在线复合模板模型表示的视觉目标跟踪

目的 视觉目标跟踪中,目标往往受到自身或场景中各种复杂干扰因素的影响,这对正确捕捉所感兴趣的目标信息带来极大的挑战。特别是,跟踪器所用的模板数据主要是在线学习获得,数据的可靠性直接影响到候选样本外观模型表示的精度。针对视觉目标跟踪中目标模板学习和候选样本外观模型表示等问题,采用一种较为有效的模板组织策略以及更为精确的模型表示技术,提出一种新颖的视觉目标跟踪算法。方法 跟踪框架中,将候选样本外观模型表示假设为由一组复合模板和最小重构误差组成的线性回归问题,首先利用经典的增量主成分分析法从在线高维数据中学习出一组低维子空间基向量(模板正样本),并根据前一时刻跟踪结果在线实时采样一些特殊的负样本加以扩充目标模板数据,再利用新组织的模板基向量和独立同分布的高斯—拉普拉斯混合噪声来线性拟合候选目标外观模型,最后估计出候选样本和真实目标之间的最大似然度,从而使跟踪器能够准确捕捉每一时刻的真实目标状态信息。结果 在一些公认测试视频序列上的实验结果表明,本文算法在目标模板学习和候选样本外观模型表示等方面比同类方法更能准确有效地反映出视频场景中目标状态的各种复杂变化,能够较好地解决各种不确定干扰因素下的模型退化和跟踪漂移问题,和一些优秀的同类算法相比,可以达到相同甚至更高的跟踪精度。结论 本文算法能够在线学习较为精准的目标模板并定期更新,使得跟踪器良好地适应内在或外在因素(姿态、光照、遮挡、尺度、背景扰乱及运动模糊等)所引起的视觉信息变化,始终保持其最佳的状态,使得候选样本外观模型的表示更加可靠准确,从而展现出更为鲁棒的性能。     

Multi-scale patch-based sparse appearance model for robust object tracking

When objects undergo large pose change, illumination variation or partial occlusion, most existing visual tracking algorithms tend to drift away from targets and even fail to track them. To address the issue, in this paper we propose a multi-scale patch-based appearance model with sparse representation and provide an efficient scheme involving the collaboration between multi-scale patches encoded by sparse coefficients. The key idea of our method is to model the appearance of an object by different scale patches, which are represented by sparse coefficients with different scale dictionaries. The model exploits both partial and spatial information of targets based on multi-scale patches. Afterwards, a similarity score of one candidate target is input into a particle filter framework to estimate the target state sequentially over time in visual tracking. Additionally, to decrease the visual drift caused by frequently updating model, we present a novel two-step object tracking method which exploits both the ground truth information of the target labeled in the first frame and the target obtained online with the multi-scale patch information. Experiments on some publicly available benchmarks of video sequences showed that the similarity involving complementary information can locate targets more accurately and the proposed tracker is more robust and effective than others.     

A graphical model based solution to the facial feature point tracking problem

In this paper a facial feature point tracker that is motivated by applications such as human-computer interfaces and facial expression analysis systems is proposed. The proposed tracker is based on a graphical model framework. The facial features are tracked through video streams by incorporating statistical relations in time as well as spatial relations between feature points. By exploiting the spatial relationships between feature points, the proposed method provides robustness in real-world conditions such as arbitrary head movements and occlusions. A Gabor feature-based occlusion detector is developed and used to handle occlusions. The performance of the proposed tracker has been evaluated on real video data under various conditions including occluded facial gestures and head movements. It is also compared to two popular methods, one based on Kalman filtering exploiting temporal relations, and the other based on active appearance models (AAM). Improvements provided by the proposed approach are demonstrated through both visual displays and quantitative analysis.     

A graphical model for evolutionary optimization

We present a statistical model of empirical optimization that admits the creation of algorithms with explicit and intuitively defined desiderata. Because No Free Lunch theorems dictate that no optimization algorithm can be considered more efficient than any other when considering all possible functions, the desired function class plays a prominent role in the model. In particular, this provides a direct way to answer the traditionally difficult question of what algorithm is best matched to a particular class of functions. Among the benefits of the model are the ability to specify the function class in a straightforward manner, a natural way to specify noisy or dynamic functions, and a new source of insight into No Free Lunch theorems for optimization.     

基于多任务混合噪声分布模型表示的视频跟踪

视觉跟踪中,目标信息是不确定的非线性变化过程。随时间和空间而变化的复杂动态数据中学习出较为精确的目标模板并用它来线性表示候选样本外观模型,从而使跟踪器较好地适应跟踪作业中内在或外在因素所引起的目标外观变化是视觉目标跟踪研究的重点。提出一种新颖的多任务混合噪声分布模型表示的视频跟踪算法,将候选样本外观模型假设为由一组目标模板和最小重构误差组成的多任务线性回归问题。利用经典的增量主成分分析法从高维数据中学习出一组低维子空间基向量（模板正样本）,并在线实时采样一些特殊的负样本加以扩充目标模板,再利用扩充后的新模板和独立同分布的高斯-拉普拉斯混合噪声来线性拟合当前时刻的候选目标外观模型,最后计算候选样本和真实目标之间的最大似然度,从而准确捕捉当前时刻的真实目标。在一些公认测试视频上的实验结果表明,该算法将能够在线学习较为精准的目标模板并定期更新目标在不同状态时的特殊信息,使得跟踪器始终保持最佳的状态,从而良好地适应不断发生变化的视觉信息（姿态、光照、遮挡、尺度、背景扰乱及运动模糊等）,表现出更好的鲁棒性能。     

利用时空特征编码的单目标跟踪网络

目的 随着深度神经网络的出现,视觉跟踪快速发展,视觉跟踪任务中的视频时空特性,尤其是时序外观一致性(temporal appearance consistency)具有巨大探索空间。本文提出一种新颖简单实用的跟踪算法——时间感知网络(temporal-aware network, TAN),从视频角度出发,对序列的时间特征和空间特征同时编码。方法 TAN内部嵌入了一个新的时间聚合模块(temporal aggregation module, TAM)用来交换和融合多个历史帧的信息,无需任何模型更新策略也能适应目标的外观变化,如形变、旋转等。为了构建简单实用的跟踪算法框架,设计了一种目标估计策略,通过检测目标的4个角点,由对角构成两组候选框,结合目标框选择策略确定最终目标位置,能够有效应对遮挡等困难。通过离线训练,在没有任何模型更新的情况下,本文提出的跟踪器TAN通过完全前向推理(fully feed-forward)实现跟踪。结果 在OTB(online object tracking:a benchmark)50、OTB100、TrackingNet、LaSOT(a high-qua...     

A novel algebraic method for kernel-based object tracking

In the present paper, a new tracking method based on kernel tracking is proposed. The proposed method employs a novel algebraic algorithm to get the kernel movement. In contrast to the mean-shift method which uses a weighted kernel to reduce the effect of the background, the algebraic algorithm of the proposed method allows dividing the candidate area into two parts in order to identify the object and background regions. To detect the object and background regions, we propose measuring the similarity of weighted histogram for each part. The experiments show the superiority of the proposed method for the removal of the background. The effect of noise and background clutter is reduced by segmentation of the object which produces the narrow histogram. In conclusion, the ability of the proposed method for tracking in crowded and cluttered scenes is demonstrated.     

基于活动基模型的非刚体目标跟踪算法研究

近年来,非刚体目标跟踪技术作为视频目标跟踪中的一个难点受到了广泛关注。为了精确跟踪非刚体目标,克服跟踪过程中目标形状变化和遮挡带来的困难,提出一种基于活动基模型的非刚体目标跟踪算法。首先采用共享草图算法从目标训练样本集中学习得到目标的活动基模型,然后把活动基模型嵌入粒子滤波观测模型中。在对金鱼与企鹅序列跟踪的实验结果表明,与现有算法相比,该算法在非刚体目标形状变化以及存在遮挡的情况下,具有更好的跟踪性能。     

An oscillatory neural model of multiple object tracking

An oscillatory neural network model of multiple object tracking is described. The model works with a set of identical visual objects moving around the screen. At the initial stage, the model selects into the focus of attention a subset of objects initially marked as targets. Other objects are used as distractors. The model aims to preserve the initial separation between targets and distractors while objects are moving. This is achieved by a proper interplay of synchronizing and desynchronizing interactions in a multilayer network, where each layer is responsible for tracking a single target. The results of the model simulation are presented and compared with experimental data. In agreement with experimental evidence, simulations with a larger number of targets have shown higher error rates. Also, the functioning of the model in the case of temporarily overlapping objects is presented.     

An active contour model for object tracking using the previous contour

An active contour model is proposed for object tracking using prior information. Conventional algorithms have many problems when applied in object tracking. The proposed active contour algorithm, a model using an edge of an adapted color feature, not only modifies the internal energy function of the conventional algorithm to extend the search range and reduce the computational burden, but also modifies the external energy function to reduce the edge candidates of the object. The algorithm searches normally and uses dynamic programming to solve the energy minimization problem. The main drawbacks of a conventional snake algorithm, i.e., shrinking, a limited search range, sensitivity to outliers, are improved with the proposed algorithm. We illustrate the effectiveness of our scheme using some tracking examples. This work was presented, in part, at the Seventh International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 16–18, 2002     

一种鲁棒的自适应带宽跟踪方法

在自适应带宽均值移动算法的基础上, 引入粒子滤波, 提出一种新的目标跟踪方法. 该方法通过更新带宽矩阵以适应目标尺度的变化; 采用加权和方法融合定位检测结果, 使跟踪不易陷入局部最优状态; 对粒子进行收敛采样, 维持粒子多样性, 减小累积误差; 提出一种目标扩展搜索策略, 用于目标丢失后重新搜索跟踪目标. 实验结果表明, 所提出的跟踪方法在复杂场景中表现出了较好的鲁棒性, 且跟踪轨迹平滑.

     

A distributed approach for real-time multi-camera multiple object tracking

Estimating the positions of a set of moving objects captured from a network of cameras is still an open problem in Computer Vision. In this paper, a distributed and real-time approach for tracking multiple objects on multiple cameras is presented. A quantitative comparison with six state-of-the-art methods has been carried out on the publicly available PETS 2009 data set, demonstrating the effectiveness of the algorithm. Moreover, the proposed method has been tested also on a multi-camera soccer data set, showing its data fusion capabilities.     

Across-camera object tracking using a conditional random field model

The Journal of Supercomputing - To ensure safety, most public spaces now deploy monitoring systems. However, in most scenarios, the tracking operations of these monitoring systems are performed...