Abstract: Graph-based representations are experiencing a growing usage in visual recognition and retrieval due to their representational power in front of classical appearance-based representations. However, retrieving a query graph from a large dataset of graphs implies a high computational complexity. The most important property for a large-scale retrieval is the search time complexity to be sub-linear in the number of database examples. With this aim, in this paper we propose a graph indexation formalism applied to visual retrieval. A binary embedding is defined as hashing keys for graph nodes. Given a database of labeled graphs, graph nodes are complemented with vectors of attributes representing their local context. Then, each attribute vector is converted to a binary code applying a binary-valued hash function. Therefore, graph retrieval is formulated in terms of finding target graphs in the database whose nodes have a small Hamming distance from the query nodes, easily computed with bitwise logical operators. As an application example, we validate the performance of the proposed methods in different real scenarios such as handwritten word spotting in images of historical documents or symbol spotting in architectural floor plans.

Abstract: The investigation of spatio-temporal dynamics of bacterial cells and their molecular components requires automated image analysis tools to track cell shape properties and molecular component locations inside the cells. In the study of bacteria aging, the molecular components of interest are protein aggregates accumulated near bacteria boundaries. This particular location makes very ambiguous the correspondence between aggregates and cells, since computing accurately bacteria boundaries in phase-contrast time-lapse imaging is a challenging task. This paper proposes an active skeleton formulation for bacteria modelling which provides several advantages: an easy computation of shape properties (perimeter, length, thickness and orientation), an improved boundary accuracy in noisy images and a natural bacteria-centred coordinate system that permits the intrinsic location of molecular components inside the cell. Starting from an initial skeleton estimate, the medial axis of the bacterium is obtained by minimising an energy function which incorporates bacteria shape constraints. Experimental results on biological images and comparative evaluation of the performances validate the proposed approach for modelling cigar-shaped bacteria like Escherichia coli. The Image-J plugin of the proposed method can be found online at http://fluobactracker.inrialpes.fr.

Abstract: We analyze the results of the 2017 ChaLearn Looking at People Challenge at ICCV. The challenge comprised three tracks: (1) large-scale isolated (2) continuous gesture recognition, and (3) real versus fake expressed emotions tracks. It is the second round for both gesture recognition challenges, which were held first in the context of the ICPR 2016 workshop on “multimedia challenges beyond visual analysis”. In this second round, more participants joined the competitions, and the performances considerably improved compared to the first round. Particularly, the best recognition accuracy of isolated gesture recognition has improved from 56.90% to 67.71% in the IsoGD test set, and Mean Jaccard Index (MJI) of continuous gesture recognition has improved from 0.2869 to 0.6103 in the ConGD test set. The third track is the first challenge on real versus fake expressed emotion classification, including six emotion categories, for which a novel database was introduced. The first place was shared between two teams who achieved 67.70% averaged recognition rate on the test set. The data of the three tracks, the participants' code and method descriptions are publicly available to allow researchers to keep making progress in the field.

Abstract: In general, robot grasping approaches are based on the usage of multi-finger grippers. However, when large size objects need to be manipulated vacuum grippers are preferred, instead of finger based grippers. This paper aims to estimate the best picking place for a two suction cups vacuum gripper,
when planar objects with an unknown size and geometry are considered. The approach is based on the estimation of geometric properties of object’s shape from a partial cloud of points (a single 3D view), in such a way that combine with considerations of a theoretical model to generate an optimal contact point
that minimizes the vacuum force needed to guarantee a grasp.
Experimental results in real scenarios are presented to show the validity of the proposed approach.

Abstract: This paper focuses on near infrared (NIR) image colorization by using a Conditional Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (CDCGAN) architecture model. The proposed architecture is based on the usage of a conditional probabilistic generative model. Firstly, it learns to colorize the given input image, by using a triplet model architecture that tackle every channel in an independent way. In the proposed model, the nal layer of red channel consider the infrared image to enhance the details, resulting in a sharp RGB image. Then, in the second stage, a discriminative model is used to estimate the probability that the generated image came from the training dataset, rather than the image automatically generated. Experimental results with a large set of real images are provided showing the validity of the proposed approach. Additionally, the proposed approach is compared with a state of the art approach showing better results.