Marco Pedersoli, Andrea Vedaldi, Jordi Gonzalez, & Xavier Roca. (2015). A coarse-to-fine approach for fast deformable object detection. PR - Pattern Recognition, 48(5), 1844–1853.
Abstract: We present a method that can dramatically accelerate object detection with part based models. The method is based on the observation that the cost of detection is likely to be dominated by the cost of matching each part to the image, and not by the cost of computing the optimal configuration of the parts as commonly assumed. Therefore accelerating detection requires minimizing the number of
part-to-image comparisons. To this end we propose a multiple-resolutions hierarchical part based model and a corresponding coarse-to-fine inference procedure that recursively eliminates from the search space unpromising part
placements. The method yields a ten-fold speedup over the standard dynamic programming approach and is complementary to the cascade-of-parts approach of [9]. Compared to the latter, our method does not have parameters to be determined empirically, which simplifies its use during the training of the model. Most importantly, the two techniques can be combined to obtain a very significant speedup, of two orders of magnitude in some cases. We evaluate our method extensively on the PASCAL VOC and INRIA datasets, demonstrating a very high increase in the detection speed with little degradation of the accuracy.
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Ivan Huerta, Marco Pedersoli, Jordi Gonzalez, & Alberto Sanfeliu. (2015). Combining where and what in change detection for unsupervised foreground learning in surveillance. PR - Pattern Recognition, 48(3), 709–719.
Abstract: Change detection is the most important task for video surveillance analytics such as foreground and anomaly detection. Current foreground detectors learn models from annotated images since the goal is to generate a robust foreground model able to detect changes in all possible scenarios. Unfortunately, manual labelling is very expensive. Most advanced supervised learning techniques based on generic object detection datasets currently exhibit very poor performance when applied to surveillance datasets because of the unconstrained nature of such environments in terms of types and appearances of objects. In this paper, we take advantage of change detection for training multiple foreground detectors in an unsupervised manner. We use statistical learning techniques which exploit the use of latent parameters for selecting the best foreground model parameters for a given scenario. In essence, the main novelty of our proposed approach is to combine the where (motion segmentation) and what (learning procedure) in change detection in an unsupervised way for improving the specificity and generalization power of foreground detectors at the same time. We propose a framework based on latent support vector machines that, given a noisy initialization based on motion cues, learns the correct position, aspect ratio, and appearance of all moving objects in a particular scene. Specificity is achieved by learning the particular change detections of a given scenario, and generalization is guaranteed since our method can be applied to any possible scene and foreground object, as demonstrated in the experimental results outperforming the state-of-the-art.
Keywords: Object detection; Unsupervised learning; Motion segmentation; Latent variables; Support vector machine; Multiple appearance models; Video surveillance
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Marçal Rusiñol, David Aldavert, Ricardo Toledo, & Josep Llados. (2015). Efficient segmentation-free keyword spotting in historical document collections. PR - Pattern Recognition, 48(2), 545–555.
Abstract: In this paper we present an efficient segmentation-free word spotting method, applied in the context of historical document collections, that follows the query-by-example paradigm. We use a patch-based framework where local patches are described by a bag-of-visual-words model powered by SIFT descriptors. By projecting the patch descriptors to a topic space with the latent semantic analysis technique and compressing the descriptors with the product quantization method, we are able to efficiently index the document information both in terms of memory and time. The proposed method is evaluated using four different collections of historical documents achieving good performances on both handwritten and typewritten scenarios. The yielded performances outperform the recent state-of-the-art keyword spotting approaches.
Keywords: Historical documents; Keyword spotting; Segmentation-free; Dense SIFT features; Latent semantic analysis; Product quantization
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Manuel Graña, & Bogdan Raducanu. (2015). Special Issue on Bioinspired and knowledge based techniques and applications. NEUCOM - Neurocomputing, , 1–3.
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Daniel Sanchez, Miguel Angel Bautista, & Sergio Escalera. (2015). HuPBA 8k+: Dataset and ECOC-GraphCut based Segmentation of Human Limbs. NEUCOM - Neurocomputing, 150(A), 173–188.
Abstract: Human multi-limb segmentation in RGB images has attracted a lot of interest in the research community because of the huge amount of possible applications in fields like Human-Computer Interaction, Surveillance, eHealth, or Gaming. Nevertheless, human multi-limb segmentation is a very hard task because of the changes in appearance produced by different points of view, clothing, lighting conditions, occlusions, and number of articulations of the human body. Furthermore, this huge pose variability makes the availability of large annotated datasets difficult. In this paper, we introduce the HuPBA8k+ dataset. The dataset contains more than 8000 labeled frames at pixel precision, including more than 120000 manually labeled samples of 14 different limbs. For completeness, the dataset is also labeled at frame-level with action annotations drawn from an 11 action dictionary which includes both single person actions and person-person interactive actions. Furthermore, we also propose a two-stage approach for the segmentation of human limbs. In a first stage, human limbs are trained using cascades of classifiers to be split in a tree-structure way, which is included in an Error-Correcting Output Codes (ECOC) framework to define a body-like probability map. This map is used to obtain a binary mask of the subject by means of GMM color modelling and GraphCuts theory. In a second stage, we embed a similar tree-structure in an ECOC framework to build a more accurate set of limb-like probability maps within the segmented user mask, that are fed to a multi-label GraphCut procedure to obtain final multi-limb segmentation. The methodology is tested on the novel HuPBA8k+ dataset, showing performance improvements in comparison to state-of-the-art approaches. In addition, a baseline of standard action recognition methods for the 11 actions categories of the novel dataset is also provided.
Keywords: Human limb segmentation; ECOC; Graph-Cuts
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Monica Piñol, Angel Sappa, & Ricardo Toledo. (2015). Adaptive Feature Descriptor Selection based on a Multi-Table Reinforcement Learning Strategy. NEUCOM - Neurocomputing, 150(A), 106–115.
Abstract: This paper presents and evaluates a framework to improve the performance of visual object classification methods, which are based on the usage of image feature descriptors as inputs. The goal of the proposed framework is to learn the best descriptor for each image in a given database. This goal is reached by means of a reinforcement learning process using the minimum information. The visual classification system used to demonstrate the proposed framework is based on a bag of features scheme, and the reinforcement learning technique is implemented through the Q-learning approach. The behavior of the reinforcement learning with different state definitions is evaluated. Additionally, a method that combines all these states is formulated in order to select the optimal state. Finally, the chosen actions are obtained from the best set of image descriptors in the literature: PHOW, SIFT, C-SIFT, SURF and Spin. Experimental results using two public databases (ETH and COIL) are provided showing both the validity of the proposed approach and comparisons with state of the art. In all the cases the best results are obtained with the proposed approach.
Keywords: Reinforcement learning; Q-learning; Bag of features; Descriptors
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Miguel Oliveira, Victor Santos, & Angel Sappa. (2015). Multimodal Inverse Perspective Mapping. IF - Information Fusion, 24, 108–121.
Abstract: Over the past years, inverse perspective mapping has been successfully applied to several problems in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. In brief, the method consists of mapping images to a new coordinate system where perspective effects are removed. The removal of perspective associated effects facilitates road and obstacle detection and also assists in free space estimation. There is, however, a significant limitation in the inverse perspective mapping: the presence of obstacles on the road disrupts the effectiveness of the mapping. The current paper proposes a robust solution based on the use of multimodal sensor fusion. Data from a laser range finder is fused with images from the cameras, so that the mapping is not computed in the regions where obstacles are present. As shown in the results, this considerably improves the effectiveness of the algorithm and reduces computation time when compared with the classical inverse perspective mapping. Furthermore, the proposed approach is also able to cope with several cameras with different lenses or image resolutions, as well as dynamic viewpoints.
Keywords: Inverse perspective mapping; Multimodal sensor fusion; Intelligent vehicles
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Ivan Huerta, Michael Holte, Thomas B. Moeslund, & Jordi Gonzalez. (2015). Chromatic shadow detection and tracking for moving foreground segmentation. IMAVIS - Image and Vision Computing, 41, 42–53.
Abstract: Advanced segmentation techniques in the surveillance domain deal with shadows to avoid distortions when detecting moving objects. Most approaches for shadow detection are still typically restricted to penumbra shadows and cannot cope well with umbra shadows. Consequently, umbra shadow regions are usually detected as part of moving objects, thus a ecting the performance of the nal detection. In this paper we address the detection of both penumbra and umbra shadow regions. First, a novel bottom-up approach is presented based on gradient and colour models, which successfully discriminates between chromatic moving cast shadow regions and those regions detected as moving objects. In essence, those regions corresponding to potential shadows are detected based on edge partitioning and colour statistics. Subsequently (i) temporal similarities between textures and (ii) spatial similarities between chrominance angle and brightness distortions are analysed for each potential shadow region for detecting the umbra shadow regions. Our second contribution re nes even further the segmentation results: a tracking-based top-down approach increases the performance of our bottom-up chromatic shadow detection algorithm by properly correcting non-detected shadows.
To do so, a combination of motion lters in a data association framework exploits the temporal consistency between objects and shadows to increase
the shadow detection rate. Experimental results exceed current state-of-the-
art in shadow accuracy for multiple well-known surveillance image databases which contain di erent shadowed materials and illumination conditions.
Keywords: Detecting moving objects; Chromatic shadow detection; Temporal local gradient; Spatial and Temporal brightness and angle distortions; Shadow tracking
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Josep M. Gonfaus, Marco Pedersoli, Jordi Gonzalez, Andrea Vedaldi, & Xavier Roca. (2015). Factorized appearances for object detection. CVIU - Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 138, 92–101.
Abstract: Deformable object models capture variations in an object’s appearance that can be represented as image deformations. Other effects such as out-of-plane rotations, three-dimensional articulations, and self-occlusions are often captured by considering mixture of deformable models, one per object aspect. A more scalable approach is representing instead the variations at the level of the object parts, applying the concept of a mixture locally. Combining a few part variations can in fact cheaply generate a large number of global appearances.
A limited version of this idea was proposed by Yang and Ramanan [1], for human pose dectection. In this paper we apply it to the task of generic object category detection and extend it in several ways. First, we propose a model for the relationship between part appearances more general than the tree of Yang and Ramanan [1], which is more suitable for generic categories. Second, we treat part locations as well as their appearance as latent variables so that training does not need part annotations but only the object bounding boxes. Third, we modify the weakly-supervised learning of Felzenszwalb et al. and Girshick et al. [2], [3] to handle a significantly more complex latent structure.
Our model is evaluated on standard object detection benchmarks and is found to improve over existing approaches, yielding state-of-the-art results for several object categories.
Keywords: Object recognition; Deformable part models; Learning and sharing parts; Discovering discriminative parts
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Jorge Bernal, F. Javier Sanchez, Gloria Fernandez Esparrach, Debora Gil, Cristina Rodriguez de Miguel, & Fernando Vilariño. (2015). WM-DOVA Maps for Accurate Polyp Highlighting in Colonoscopy: Validation vs. Saliency Maps from Physicians. CMIG - Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics, 43, 99–111.
Abstract: We introduce in this paper a novel polyp localization method for colonoscopy videos. Our method is based on a model of appearance for polyps which defines polyp boundaries in terms of valley information. We propose the integration of valley information in a robust way fostering complete, concave and continuous boundaries typically associated to polyps. This integration is done by using a window of radial sectors which accumulate valley information to create WMDOVA1 energy maps related with the likelihood of polyp presence. We perform a double validation of our maps, which include the introduction of two new databases, including the first, up to our knowledge, fully annotated database with clinical metadata associated. First we assess that the highest value corresponds with the location of the polyp in the image. Second, we show that WM-DOVA energy maps can be comparable with saliency maps obtained from physicians' fixations obtained via an eye-tracker. Finally, we prove that our method outperforms state-of-the-art computational saliency results. Our method shows good performance, particularly for small polyps which are reported to be the main sources of polyp miss-rate, which indicates the potential applicability of our method in clinical practice.
Keywords: Polyp localization; Energy Maps; Colonoscopy; Saliency; Valley detection
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Michal Drozdzal, Santiago Segui, Petia Radeva, Carolina Malagelada, Fernando Azpiroz, & Jordi Vitria. (2015). Motility bar: a new tool for motility analysis of endoluminal videos. CBM - Computers in Biology and Medicine, 65, 320–330.
Abstract: Wireless Capsule Endoscopy (WCE) provides a new perspective of the small intestine, since it enables, for the first time, visualization of the entire organ. However, the long visual video analysis time, due to the large number of data in a single WCE study, was an important factor impeding the widespread use of the capsule as a tool for intestinal abnormalities detection. Therefore, the introduction of WCE triggered a new field for the application of computational methods, and in particular, of computer vision. In this paper, we follow the computational approach and come up with a new perspective on the small intestine motility problem. Our approach consists of three steps: first, we review a tool for the visualization of the motility information contained in WCE video; second, we propose algorithms for the characterization of two motility building-blocks: contraction detector and lumen size estimation; finally, we introduce an approach to detect segments of stable motility behavior. Our claims are supported by an evaluation performed with 10 WCE videos, suggesting that our methods ably capture the intestinal motility information.
Keywords: Small intestine; Motility; WCE; Computer vision; Image classification
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Tadashi Araki, Nobutaka Ikeda, Nilanjan Dey, Sayan Chakraborty, Luca Saba, Dinesh Kumar, et al. (2015). A comparative approach of four different image registration techniques for quantitative assessment of coronary artery calcium lesions using intravascular ultrasound. CMPB - Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 118(2), 158–172.
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Carles Sanchez, Jorge Bernal, F. Javier Sanchez, Antoni Rosell, Marta Diez-Ferrer, & Debora Gil. (2015). Towards On-line Quantification of Tracheal Stenosis from Videobronchoscopy. IJCAR - International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 10(6), 935–945.
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Naveen Onkarappa, & Angel Sappa. (2015). Synthetic sequences and ground-truth flow field generation for algorithm validation. MTAP - Multimedia Tools and Applications, 74(9), 3121–3135.
Abstract: Research in computer vision is advancing by the availability of good datasets that help to improve algorithms, validate results and obtain comparative analysis. The datasets can be real or synthetic. For some of the computer vision problems such as optical flow it is not possible to obtain ground-truth optical flow with high accuracy in natural outdoor real scenarios directly by any sensor, although it is possible to obtain ground-truth data of real scenarios in a laboratory setup with limited motion. In this difficult situation computer graphics offers a viable option for creating realistic virtual scenarios. In the current work we present a framework to design virtual scenes and generate sequences as well as ground-truth flow fields. Particularly, we generate a dataset containing sequences of driving scenarios. The sequences in the dataset vary in different speeds of the on-board vision system, different road textures, complex motion of vehicle and independent moving vehicles in the scene. This dataset enables analyzing and adaptation of existing optical flow methods, and leads to invention of new approaches particularly for driver assistance systems.
Keywords: Ground-truth optical flow; Synthetic sequence; Algorithm validation
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Debora Gil, David Roche, Agnes Borras, & Jesus Giraldo. (2015). Terminating Evolutionary Algorithms at their Steady State. COA - Computational Optimization and Applications, 61(2), 489–515.
Abstract: Assessing the reliability of termination conditions for evolutionary algorithms (EAs) is of prime importance. An erroneous or weak stop criterion can negatively affect both the computational effort and the final result. We introduce a statistical framework for assessing whether a termination condition is able to stop an EA at its steady state, so that its results can not be improved anymore. We use a regression model in order to determine the requirements ensuring that a measure derived from EA evolving population is related to the distance to the optimum in decision variable space. Our framework is analyzed across 24 benchmark test functions and two standard termination criteria based on function fitness value in objective function space and EA population decision variable space distribution for the differential evolution (DE) paradigm. Results validate our framework as a powerful tool for determining the capability of a measure for terminating EA and the results also identify the decision variable space distribution as the best-suited for accurately terminating DE in real-world applications.
Keywords: Evolutionary algorithms; Termination condition; Steady state; Differential evolution
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