. In this report, we present an overview of sequential simulationbased methods for Bayesian filtering of nonlinear and non-Gaussian dynamic models. It includes in a general framework numerous methods proposed independently in various areas of science and proposes some original developments. Keywords: Bayesian estimation, optimal filtering, nonlinear non-Gaussian state space models, hidden Markov models, sequential Monte Carlo methods. 1. Introduction 1 Many problems in statistical signal processing, automatic control, applied statistics or econometrics can be stated as follows. A transition equation describes the prior distribution of the Markovian hidden signal of interest fx k ; k 2 Ng, the so-called hidden state process, and an observation equation describes the likelihood of the observations fy k ; k 2 Ng, k being the discrete time index. The aim is to estimate the hidden state process using the observations. In the Bayesian framework, all relevant information on fx 0 ; x ...

This paper presents a novel variational framework to deal with frame partition problems in Computer Vision. This framework exploits boundary and region-based segmentation modules under a curve-based optimization objective function. The task of supervised texture segmentation is considered to demonstrate the potentials of the proposed framework. The textured feature space is generated by filtering the given textured images using isotropic and anisotropic filters, and analyzing their responses as multi-component conditional probability density functions. The texture segmentation is obtained by unifying region and boundary-based information as an improved Geodesic Active Contour Model. The defined objective function is minimized using a gradient-descent method where a level set approach is used to implement the obtained PDE. According to this PDE, the curve propagation towards the final solution is guided by boundary and region-based segmentation forces, and is constrained by a regularity force. The level set implementation is performed using a fast front propagation algorithm where topological changes are naturally handled. The performance of our method is demonstrated on a variety of synthetic and real textured frames.

As a first step towards a perceptual user interface, a computer vision color tracking algorithm is developed and applied towards tracking human faces. Computer vision algorithms that are intended to form part of a perceptual user interface must be fast and efficient. They must be able to track in real time yet not absorb a major share of computational resources: other tasks must be able to run while the visual interface is being used. The new algorithm developed here is based on a robust nonparametric technique for climbing density gradients to find the mode (peak) of probability distributions called the mean shift algorithm. In our case, we want to find the mode of a color distribution within a video scene. Therefore, the mean shift algorithm is modified to deal with dynamically changing color probability distributions derived from video frame sequences. The modified algorithm is called the Continuously Adaptive Mean Shift (CAMSHIFT) algorithm. CAMSHIFT’s tracking accuracy is compared against a Polhemus tracker. Tolerance to noise, distractors and performance is studied. CAMSHIFT is then used as a computer interface for controlling commercial computer games and for exploring immersive 3D graphic worlds.

This article describes a methodology for programming robots known as probabilistic robotics. The probabilistic paradigm pays tribute to the inherent uncertainty in robot perception, relying on explicit representations of uncertainty when determining what to do. This article surveys some of the progress in the field, using in-depth examples to illustrate some of the nuts and bolts of the basic approach. Our central conjecture is that the probabilistic approach to robotics scales better to complex real-world applications than approaches that ignore a robot's uncertainty.

1 This paper presents a computational paradigm called Data Driven Markov Chain Monte Carlo (DDMCMC) for image segmentation in the Bayesian statistical framework. The paper contributes to image segmentation in three aspects. Firstly, it designs eective and well balanced Markov Chain dynamics to explore the solution space and makes the split and merge process reversible at a middle level vision formulation. Thus it achieves globally optimal solution independent of initial segmentations. Secondly, instead of computing a single maximum a posteriori solution, it proposes a mathematical principle for computing multiple distinct solutions to incorporates intrinsic ambiguities in image segmentation. A k-adventurers algorithm is proposed for extracting distinct multiple solutions from the Markov chain sequence. Thirdly, it utilizes datadriven (bottom-up) techniques, such as clustering and edge detection, to compute importance proposal probabilities, which eectively drive the Markov chain dynamics and achieve tremendous speedup in comparison to traditional jump-diusion method[4]. Thus DDMCMC paradigm provides a unifying framework where the role of existing segmentation algorithms, such as, edge detection, clustering, region growing, split-merge, SNAKEs, region competition, are revealed as either realizing Markov chain dynamics or computing importance proposal probabilities. We report some results on color and grey level image segmentation in this paper and refer to a detailed report and a web site for extensive discussion. 1 Motivation and

This paper presents a statistical algorithm for collaborative mobile robot localization. Our approach uses a sample-based version of Markov localization, capable of localizing mobile robots in an any-time fashion. When teams of robots localize themselves in the same environment, probabilistic methods are employed to synchronize each robot's belief whenever one robot detects another. As a result, the robots localize themselves faster, maintain higher accuracy, and high-cost sensors are amortized across multiple robot platforms. The technique has been implemented and tested using two mobile robots equipped with cameras and laser range-finders for detecting other robots. The results, obtained with the real robots and in series of simulation runs, illustrate drastic improvements in localization speed and accuracy when compared to conventional single-robot localization. A further experiment demonstrates that under certain conditions, successful localization is only possible if teams of heterogeneous robots collaborate during localization.

This purpose of this introductory paper is threefold. First, it introduces the Monte Carlo method with emphasis on probabilistic machine learning. Second, it reviews the main building blocks of modern Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation, thereby providing and introduction to the remaining papers of this special issue. Lastly, it discusses new interesting research horizons.

8.997> 1INTRODUCTION T HE problem of detecting and tracking moving objects has a wide variety of applications in computer vision such as coding, video surveillance, monitoring, augmented reality, and robotics. Additionally, it provides input to higher level vision tasks, such as 3D reconstruction and 3D representation. This paper addresses the problem using boundary-based information to detect and track several nonrigid moving objects over a sequence of frames acquired by a static observer. During the last decade, a large variety of motion detection algorithms have been proposed. Early approaches for motion detection rely on the detection of temporal changes. Such methods [1] employ a thresholding technique over the interframe difference, where pixelwise differences or block differences (to increase robustness) have been considered. The difference map is usually binarized using a predefined threshold value to obtain the motion/nomotion classi

There is considerable interest in the computer vision community in representing and modelling motion. Motion models are used as predictors to increase the robustness and accuracy of visual trackers, and as classifiers for gesture recognition. This paper presents a significant development of random sampling methods to allow automatic switching between multiple motion models as a natural extension of the tracking process. The Bayesian mixed-state framework is described in its generality, and the example of a bouncing ball is used to demonstrate that a mixed-state model can significantly improve tracking performance in heavy clutter. The relevance of the approach to the problem of gesture recognition is then investigated using a tracker which is able to follow the natural drawing action of a hand holding a pen, and switches state according to the hand's motion. 1 Introduction There is considerable interest in the computer vision community in representing and modelling motion [1, 3, 4]. ...

Under the three-year Video Surveillance and Monitoring (VSAM) project (1997--1999), the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the Sarnoff Corporation developed a system for autonomous Video Surveillance and Monitoring. The technical approach uses multiple, cooperative video sensors to provide continuous coverage of people and vehicles in a cluttered environment. This final report presents an overview of the system, and of the technical accomplishments that have been achieved. c fl2000 Carnegie Mellon University This work was funded by the DARPA Image Understanding under contract DAAB07-97-C-J031, and by the Office of Naval Research under grant N00014-99-1-0646. 1 Introduction The thrust of CMU research under the DARPA Video Surveillance and Monitoring (VSAM) project is cooperative multi-sensor surveillance to support battlefield awareness [17]. Under our VSAM Integrated Feasibility Demonstration (IFD) contract, we have developed automated video understandi...