The problem of tracking curves in dense visual clutter is challenging. Kalman filtering is inadequate because it is based on Gaussian densities which, being unimodal, cannot represent simultaneous alternative hypotheses. The Condensation algorithm uses "factored sampling", previously applied to the interpretation of static images, in which the probability distribution of possible interpretations is represented by a randomly generated set. Condensation uses learned dynamical models, together with visual observations, to propagate the random set over time. The result is highly robust tracking of agile motion. Notwithstanding the use of stochastic methods, the algorithm runs in near real-time. Contents 1 Tracking curves in clutter 2 2 Discrete-time propagation of state density 3 3 Factored sampling 6 4 The Condensation algorithm 8 5 Stochastic dynamical models for curve motion 10 6 Observation model 13 7 Applying the Condensation algorithm to video-streams 17 8 Conclusions 26 A Non-line...

In this paper we address the problem of minimizing a large class of energy functions that occur in early vision. The major restriction is that the energy function’s smoothness term must only involve pairs of pixels. We propose two algorithms that use graph cuts to compute a local minimum even when very large moves are allowed. The first move we consider is an α-βswap: for a pair of labels α, β, this move exchanges the labels between an arbitrary set of pixels labeled α and another arbitrary set labeled β. Our first algorithm generates a labeling such that there is no swap move that decreases the energy. The second move we consider is an α-expansion: for a label α, this move assigns an arbitrary set of pixels the label α. Our second

A novel scheme for the detection of object boundaries is presented. The technique is based on active contours evolving in time according to intrinsic geometric measures of the image. The evolving contours naturally split and merge, allowing the simultaneous detection of several objects and both interior and exterior boundaries. The proposed approach is based on the relation between active contours and the computation of geodesics or minimal distance curves. The minimal distance curve lays in a Riemannian space whose metric is defined by the image content. This geodesic approach for object segmentation allows to connect classical "snakes" based on energy minimization and geometric active contours based on the theory of curve evolution. Previous models of geometric active contours are improved, allowing stable boundary detection when their gradients suffer from large variations, including gaps. Formal results concerning existence, uniqueness, stability, and correctness of the evolution are presented as well. The scheme was implemented using an efficient algorithm for curve evolution. Experimental results of applying the scheme to real images including objects with holes and medical data imagery demonstrate its power. The results may be extended to 3D object segmentation as well.

This paper provides a tutorial introduction to visual servo control of robotic manipulators. Since the topic spans many disciplines our goal is limited to providing a basic conceptual framework. We begin by reviewing the prerequisite topics from robotics and computer vision, including a brief review of coordinate transformations, velocity representation, and a description of the geometric aspects of the image formation process. We then present a taxonomy of visual servo control systems. The two major classes of systems, position-based and image-based systems, are then discussed. Since any visual servo system must be capable of tracking image features in a sequence of images, we include an overview of feature-based and correlation-based methods for tracking. We conclude the tutorial with a number of observations on the current directions of the research field of visual servo control. 1 Introduction Today there are over 800,000 robots in the world, mostly working in factory environment...

In this paper, we propose a new model for active contours to detect objects in a given image, based on techniques of curve evolution, Mumford--Shah functional for segmentation and level sets. Our model can detect objects whose boundaries are not necessarily defined by gradient. We minimize an energy which can be seen as a particular case of the minimal partition problem. In the level set formulation, the problem becomes a "mean-curvature flow"-like evolving the active contour, which will stop on the desired boundary. However, the stopping term does not depend on the gradient of the image, as in the classical active contour models, but is instead related to a particular segmentation of the image. We will give a numerical algorithm using finite differences. Finally, we will present various experimental results and in particular some examples for which the classical snakes methods based on the gradient are not applicable. Also, the initial curve can be anywhere in the image, and interior contours are automatically detected.

. In Proc. European Conf. Computer Vision, 1996, pp. 343--356, Cambridge, UK The problem of tracking curves in dense visual clutter is a challenging one. Trackers based on Kalman filters are of limited use; because they are based on Gaussian densities which are unimodal, they cannot represent simultaneous alternative hypotheses. Extensions to the Kalman filter to handle multiple data associations work satisfactorily in the simple case of point targets, but do not extend naturally to continuous curves. A new, stochastic algorithm is proposed here, the Condensation algorithm --- Conditional Density Propagation over time. It uses `factored sampling', a method previously applied to interpretation of static images, in which the distribution of possible interpretations is represented by a randomly generated set of representatives. The Condensation algorithm combines factored sampling with learned dynamical models to propagate an entire probability distribution for object pos...

Abstract- Shape modeling is an important constituent of computer vision as well as computer graphics research. Shape models aid the tasks of object representation and recognition. This paper presents a new approach to shape modeling which re-tains some of the attractive features of existing methods and over-comes some of their limitations. Our techniques can be applied to model arbitrarily complex shapes, which include shapes with significant protrusions, and to situations where no a priori as-sumption about the object’s topology is made. A single instance of our model, when presented with an image having more than one object of interest, has the ability to split freely to represent each object. This method is based on the ideas developed by Osher and Sethian to model propagating solidhiquid interfaces with curva-ture-dependent speeds. The interface (front) is a closed, noninter-secting, hypersurface flowing along its gradient field with con-stant speed or a speed that depends on the curvature. It is moved by solving a “Hamilton-Jacob? ’ type equation written for a func-tion in which the interface is a particular level set. A speed term synthesizpd from the image is used to stop the interface in the vi-cinity of object boundaries. The resulting equation of motion is solved by employing entropy-satisfying upwind finite difference schemes. We present a variety of ways of computing evolving front, including narrow bands, reinitializations, and different stopping criteria. The efficacy of the scheme is demonstrated with numerical experiments on some synthesized images and some low contrast medical images. Index Terms- Shape modeling, shape recovery, interface mo-tion, level sets, hyperbolic conservation laws, Hamilton-Jacobi

We present an unsupervised technique for visual learning which is based on density estimation in high-dimensional spaces using an eigenspace decomposition. Two types of density estimates are derived for modeling the training data: a multivariate Gaussian (for unimodal distributions) and a Mixture-of-Gaussians model (for multimodal distributions). These probability densities are then used to formulate a maximum-likelihood estimation framework for visual search and target detection for automatic object recognition and coding. Our learning technique is applied to the probabilistic visual modeling, detection, recognition, and coding of human faces and non-rigid objects such as hands.

We present a novel statistical and variational approach to image segmentation based on a new algorithm named region competition. This algorithm is derived by minimizing a generalized Bayes/MDL criterion using the variational principle. The algorithm is guaranteed to converge to a local minimum and combines aspects of snakes/balloons and region growing. Indeed the classic snakes/balloons and region growing algorithms can be directly derived from our approach. We provide theoretical analysis of region competition including accuracy of boundary location, criteria for initial conditions, and the relationship to edge detection using filters. It is straightforward to generalize the algorithm to multiband segmentation and we demonstrate it on grey level images, color images and texture images. The novel color model allows us to eliminate intensity gradients and shadows, thereby obtaining segmentation based on the albedos of objects. It also helps detect highlight regions. 1 Division of Appli...

In this paper we describe a new tool for interactive free-form fair surface design. By generalizing classical discrete Fourier analysis to two-dimensional discrete surface signals -- functions defined on polyhedral surfaces of arbitrary topology --, we reduce the problem of surface smoothing, or fairing, to low-pass filtering. We describe a very simple surface signal low-pass filter algorithm that applies to surfaces of arbitrary topology. As opposed to other existing optimization-based fairing methods, which are computationally more expensive, this is a linear time and space complexity algorithm. With this algorithm, fairing very large surfaces, such as those obtained from volumetric medical data, becomes affordable. By combining this algorithm with surface subdivision methods we obtain a very effective fair surface design technique. We then extend the analysis, and modify the algorithm accordingly, to accommodate different types of constraints. Some constraints can be imposed without any modification of the algorithm, while others require the solution of a small associated linear system of equations. In particular, vertex location constraints, vertex normal constraints, and surface normal discontinuities across curves embedded in the surface, can be imposed with this technique. CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/image generation - display algorithms; I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Computational Geometry and Object Modeling - curve, surface, solid, and object representations;J.6[Com- puter Applications]: Computer-Aided Engineering - computeraided design General Terms: Algorithms, Graphics. 1